Algae: food of the future
Historically seen as a nuisance, algae was processed as animal feed or fertilizer, but with one billion chronically hungry people, scientists worldwide are hard at work researching new ways to use the non-toxic single celled plant as a food solution.
Algae, essentially a form of seaweed, is set to become one of the foods of the future, and with a record bloom of over 7,000 tonnes on the Chinese coast last year, chefs in China are already using it as an ingredient.
Dried hutai, as its known locally, can be found in spring rolls and tofu pancakes. One of China’s most widely exported beers, Tsingtao, now makes a green pilsner flavoured with algae, a pragmatic response to the severe algae blooms - harmless to humans, but toxic to marine life.
And the Chinese interest in algae might be only the start of a food revolution. “We’ve known for years about algae’s potential for fuel and food, and now science is catching up with that potential,” explains Arizona State University Professor Mark Edwards. “We’ll see millions of gallons of fuel and vast quantities of food made from algae.”
Algae are high in Omega-3 oils – one of the holy grails of the nutritional world – and are a prime source of Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an essential fatty acid so important for brain function that baby formula manufacturers add it to their products.
Releasing this untapped potential isn’t simply a case of expecting everyone to follow Japan’s lead and eat more seaweed; it’s far more subtle. For those who dislike popping vitamins or eating fish the options to take Omega-3 are limited. What if we could bypass the fish altogether and get Omega-3 from another completely different source – cows, for example?
Alltech, a leader in the enriched food industry, presently manufactures milk fortified with extracted algal DHA and is now undertaking dairy trials to establish the levels of DHA that could be achieved by feeding algae-enriched feed directly to cows.
By enriching cattle feed, the milk the cows produce will contain very high levels of DHA and Omega-3 fatty acids, giving consumers a viable alternative to fish oils and supplements.
Trials are in the early stage, but the next five years could see consumers looking to milk, rather than fish oils for their DHA and Omega-3.
This humble plant form (ranging from giant seaweeds and kelps to microscopic slimes) lies at the bottom of the food chain but has huge untapped potential.
“They are capable of fixing CO2 in the atmosphere and providing fats, oils and sugars. Eaten by everything from the tiniest shrimp to the great blue whales, algae is the base of all life and must be the future,” says Professor Edwards.
This article first appeared in Taste Magazine, produced and designed by ico Design.
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