Valensa reinvents Chlorella downstream processing

Published: 29-Apr-2019

Scientists discover process to create “cracked whole cell” chlorella to increase shelf life and nutrient density

Chlorella is a genus of single-celled green algae that is rich in phytonutrients, including chlorophyll and plant protein, as well as the Chlorella Growth Factor. Typically, the downstream processing of Chlorella requires ball-milling, a physical disruption of the microalgae cell wall to disrupt the rigid cell wall and thus give an increase in bioavailability to the water-soluble nutrients, including Chlorella Growth Factor.

Unfortunately, this physical milling operation can impact the stability and shelf life of the Chlorella ingredient, and yield lower amounts of key nutrients like chlorophyll and vitamin B12.

According to Margaret Dohnalek, CSO for Valensa International, said: “What Parry did was to look at the cultivation process for the microalgae, and design a solution to the rigid cell wall that at the same time delivered better stability and nutrient density for Parry Organic Chlorella.”

Dohnalek explained that Parry designed the growth conditions for Chlorella and the cultivation and downstream processing to deliver a unique advantage, a porous cell wall that could be cracked in the downstream process, to maintain stability, achieve longer shelf life, and improve the nutrient content.

“All this is achieved for an ingredient that is Non-GMO and organic certified,” she added.

The Parry hybrid production process features closed growth-reactor chambers, a greenhouse optimisation system, followed by full-scale commercial photosynthetic production. The unit operations in the growth of Chlorella were evaluated to look at nutrient impact on cell wall structure. From these data, the growth conditions for the microalgal cells were optimised to produce a cell wall with unique properties.

“The Chlorella cell walls are softer and have properties that make them appear porous. The advantage of these cell wall characteristics is that the Chlorella does not have to go through a harsh milling process to crack the cell wall. Parry has optimised downstream processing to ensure that the cells are cracked and made bioavailable,” Dohnalek said.

“In-house electron microscopic evaluation on commercial production has confirmed the cracked cell wall characteristics and bioavailability of the Parry Organic Chlorella product. Competitive testing of Chlorella products has confirmed that the Parry process delivers bioavailability with enhanced stability and shelf life due to the proprietary production technology used.”

Uma Sudan, CEO and President of Valensa International, has nearly 20 years experience in developing microalgae for human benefit.

“Our expertise in Parry Organic Chlorella production also extends to industry-leading levels of Chlorella Growth Factor. We are consistently able to achieve the highest level of Chlorella Growth Factor on the market, as confirmed by the Certificate of Analysis provided by Japan Food Research Laboratories, one of the premier laboratories around the world with expertise to conduct this type of analysis,” said Uma.

A certificate of analysis is provided with every lot of Parry Organic Chlorella that states the product specification for Whole Cracked Cell is met. This specification provides assurance that the full nutritional advantages of Parry Organic Chlorella are available for the digestive system.

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