Culture of Spirulina species

Work on a culture of Spirulina species, a blue-green algae, began with an experiment of the possibility of utilising waste water from the biogas production process using
cow dung in producing fish food. As research found that Spirulina contains high contents of proteins and various nutrients, the experiments were developed and recently, the Spirulina algae were cultured in clean water for human
consumption.

In the culturing process, healthy algae cells from the laboratory are cultured
in nursery ponds. When the algae have grown in size, they are then transferred to cement ponds located outdoors. It takes about 10-15 days under a strong sun before the algae can be harvested. Plankton nets with a very fine sieve size are used to filter and harvest the algae cells. Once harvested, they are neutralised, dried and grounded into a fine powder.

There are several types of Spirulina algae products produced, for example
dried algae powder in capsules as a food-supplement. In addition, the algae
powder can be mixed with flour and seasoning and be processed to produce
Spirulina-flavoured crackers.