SPAIN
Algalimento focuses on the sustainable production of microalgae
Massive expansion in culture surface Microalgae, unicellular organisms ranging in size from a few micrometres to a few hundreds of micrometres, grow in saline, brackish, and freshwater. They have a wide range of applications and are usually produced in bioreactors on land. The company Algalimento near Las Palmas on the Canary Islands is exploiting the nutritional properties of microalgae, which include proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, vitamins, minerals, and trace elements, for use in fish feed and products for human consumption.
T
he company collaborates with the Technological Institute of the Canary Islands (ITC) and is hosted on the institute’s campus. Owned by the government of the Canary Islands, ITC is a research organisation that carries out research, development, and innovation in several fields with an overall focus on sustainability and the addition of value to the islands’ coastlines and their strategic location in the Atlantic Ocean.
Companies benefit from ITC infrastructure
Algalimento started in 2012 as the brainchild of three companies with interests in widely different commercial areas. The three were invited to participate in a technology project to diversify their activities which they did with the Algalimento
The cultivation of algae fits well into this overall strategy and ITC supplies Algalimento with the algae which the company uses as a starter culture for its production. ITC is also planning a biomarine hub on its campus for which it will invite companies involved in this area to set up offices. At ITC’s campus Algalimento maintains a facility with 5,000 sq. m of culture surface
for the production of microalgae. Ana Marcos de los Ríos, an industrial engineer, leads the production and research at the company. She says that a new site is currently under preparation which, when completed, will be 50,000 sq. m or 10 times the size of the old facility. The current site (as well as the new one) is supplied with marine, brackish, and fresh water enabling Algalimento to produce algae that grow in all these media. The focus is on certain species of algae that are native to the area as it is forbidden from introducing exotic species for commercial purposes. These restrictions are laid down in the law and are intended to protect the environment from the introduction of alien species.
help of a grant from the central government in Madrid. The aim of the project was to commercialise technology developed at ITC. Initially Algalimento had 1,000 sq. m of culture surface but then when it turned out that there was a market for its products, it increased the size of the culture surface by a factor of five with the help of a grant. The early experience demonstrated the importance of scaling up production to reduce the operating costs per unit of output and also suggested that demand for the products was far more than could be produced with the existing culture surface. The company produces the green microalgae Tetraselmis striata, which is used for aquaculture feeds. The overwhelming majority of production is sold outside Spain to aquafeed manufacturers. Another species, Tetraselmis chui, can be used for human consumption but is not native to the Canary Islands and so may not be produced. For Ms Marcos this precaution is understandable, but Algalimento has shown that its production is secure and there is no danger of the cultivated algae escaping into the environment as the wastewater does not contain any living microalgal cells.
Only species native to the Canary Islands may be produced commercially Raceways used to produce the microalgae. Experiments are also conducted to find the optimal raceway design.
Another species that the company plans to cultivate is
Ana Marcos de los Ríos leads Algalimento, a company producing microalgae for a range of applications.
Dunaliella salina, a microalga that produces the pigment betacarotene, a product sought after by the nutraceutical industry. This species should be produced in the months of April to October/ November as this is when the pigment content is highest. The pigment content increases when the microalga experiences stress, so at Algalimento the nutrients, carbon dioxide levels, and the light are adjusted to create the conditions necessary for the production of betacarotene. However, &VSPl TI .BHB[JOF
