UEBER QUALITAT UND VERWERTBARKEIT VON MIKROALGEN ENTHALTENDEN BIOMASSEN

Abstract

By their high productivity and contents of protein, vitamins and minerals microalgae are expected to yield a valuable feed or food. Several species of marine and fresh-water algae of different classes were recently fed to animals and, with a few exceptions, were found to give high biological values of their protein. Good results,howewer, were only obtained after the full digestibility of the algae was established by certain processing techniques. The contamination of algae by pollutants can be kept below the legal limits if the culture conditions are at an optimum. The quantity of algae needed for toxicological long-term studies is now available from a new production plant in Peru where the stuff is produced with high quality under standardized conditions. Nutrition tests with human volunteers, performed under conditions of daily nutrition habits, have newer shown any harmful effect of the microalgae. Nevertheless, at this stage the algae are recommended to be applied to animal feeding for an extended period before used for regular human nutrition.