BCFN Young Earth Solutions YES! Fresh microalgae paste stabilization as food substitute Abstract: Nowadays, the major food issues to be faced in the future will be food scarcity which gradually bring impacts to overnutrition and undernutrition. Those are becoming most food issues to be addressed by welfare and developing countries including Indonesia. Overnutrition diseases are related to excess supply of junk food, whereas undernutrition diseases are related to difficulty access of food. The application of microalgae biomass is an attracting and innovative approach for the development of healthier food ingredients to combat overnutrition and undernutrition. Microalgae have higher productivity and nutritional quality when compared to higher plants. However, raw microalgae biomass needs a processing technology to improve the physical functionality properties and sensory characteristics before it is used as food substitute. Several steps will be applied after harvesting the biomass, such as particle size reduction of the biomass to create smooth paste texture, filtration using micro-membrane to homogenize the particles and to remove the impurities, deodorization to remove undesired volatile compounds, emulsification and gelling method to maintain its texture stabilization and followed by formulation. This technology as an innovative way which has high possibility to be applied and high impact on food sustainability in the future.
Author
Wahyu Wijaya