Download HERE - Edge

From: Yugandhar <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, Aug 24, 2015 at 9:50 AM
Subject: Re: Spirulina Project
To: Jordan Russ <[email protected]>
Aug 25, 2015
Dear Jordan,
First of all, let me apologize for my long silence. The main reason was that there was no ready material with me to share with
you on the aspects of spirulina production you wanted to know. My somewhat uncertain travel schedule was the secondary
reason. Finally, I decided to write out the stuff.
It is nice of you and Selina to identify three key areas where improvement is required in spirulina production - cost reduction,
drying and nutrient testing. In this direction, I'll answer your questions as follows.
1) Goal of farming spirulina: Antenna Trust (the parent non-profit outfit in India) started cultivation of spirulina in Madurai (Tamil
Nadu - South India) with a view to combat malnutrition among children and women living in villages around and slum areas of
Madurai city. The idea was to simplify the technology to the level that the rural poor could cultivate it in their farms or backyards.
Our goal today still remains the same - cultivating high quality spirulina as a sure means of combating malnourishment among
children and women; we now specifically focus on the third category - adolescent girls. Since these groups fall at the bottom of
the pyramid, keeping the production cost low is necessary.
2) Factors affecting spirulina quality: First, let me highlight the important nutrients in spirulina. While people call it power food
because of high protein content, our experience (and hence, opinion) is that value of spirulina lies in its micro-nutrient contend
(almost fully bioavailable to humans). It also contains two pigments chlorophyll and phycocyanine, which have many benefits in
immunity building and correcting metabolism in human beings. GLA, Omega-3, etc. are also useful.
Spirulina is a biological entity, and its growth depends on several factors like sunshine hours, continuity of sunshine hours during
the day, temperature (also difference in night and day temperatures), as nutrient absorption by spirulina from culture medium
and its conversion to bio-available nutrients is governed by these factors. General info on spirulina nutrition could be found in the
attached Word file Spi-Overview).
That is microbiology. As an engineer, you would be interested in how best one can utilize these climatic factors for higher
conversion. Agitation of culture medium is the key to success - it allows all filaments (the bacterium has a spiral filament form; it
is not motile) suspended in the culture medium to get exposed to sunlight. Density of filaments in the medium prevents sunlight
to effectively penetrate beyond 3-5 cm (say, 1-2 inches). We maintain the total depth of the medium to about 25 cm (10 inches),
but never more than one foot (30 cm).
The second factor is rate of addition of iron. The filaments cannot absorb iron from the medium if it is present in high
concentration. So, we add (pour) ferrous sulphate solution by drip - which the one liter bottle should empty in about 2-3 hours.
Continuous (or continual) agitation enables all filament to absorb it. We do not have any such observation about absorption of
zinc by the bacterium. So, we add it in the medium.
Please note that all the nutrients are replenished on daily basis, based on the amount of spirulina harvested in the morning. We
have mathematical formulae to determine the quantity of nutrients that need to be added.
Synthesis of pigments (beta carotene included) and other nutrients like GLA, Omega-3, etc. is a function of the genetic
composition and micro-biology of the bacterium, and we do not have clear idea as to how that can be improved.
The spirulina should be free from contamination from any disease causing bacteria (E coli, Shigella, Salmonella, etc.). As such,
these bacteria cannot survive in the highly alkaline medium that is required (and used) for spirulina cultivation. But, the
possibility of contamination exists in drying process. Some precautions are necessary.
Sometimes, there is a possibility of other algae (which may not be suitable for human consumption) may contaminate the culture
medium. Spirogyra is an example. Chlorella contamination was avoided by not allowing chlorella to be cultivated within a quarter
of a mile (about 400 meters). The best way to avoid contamination of other algae is to not use water from surface water sources
like ponds or streams. We recommend groundwater.
Let me tell you that at our farm in Madurai, we did not so far have any issues of secondary contamination (pathogens or other
algae). This was because of our strict production and processing protocols. But there were few instances of contamination in our
rural partners' products in the past. We have issued a short note to them, English translation of which is attached with this mail
(PDF file SpiQuality-ANF).
3) Resource limitations: Frankly, if you look at it, we have few limitations. Electricity is expensive and not readily or continuously
available in our villages. Hence our focus was on manual operations. We tried solar electricity, but are not sure about adopting it
in view of hidden subsidies. Labor is available and we have trained a number of local women in systematic operations. Sunlight
is bountiful for almost 8-9 months a year. During rainy season, we scale down our production. That is limitation of the tropics.
Yes, nutrient prices are increasing and that is pushing up our production cost.
4) Problems in production: We would like to improve the nutritional quality in terms of iron and zinc content. Further, vitamin B-
12 content in our spirulina is not consistent. We do not know why it is low in some batches and high in others. The production
system we have adopted and promoted (decentralized, low capital intensive, manual operations) has its own cost, although it is
easy to adopt by smallholder families in villages. The nutrient and labor, put together, account for 65%-75% of the production
cost.
We thought about this - If agitation is mechanized, labor cost could be reduced by half. We tried wind powered mechanical
agitation - sail driven rotating paddles/ agitators. But it was not perfected, as the wind velocity varies considerably during the
day. Please note that the agitation is not needed at night, when the filaments process the sugars formed during photosynthesis
into complex foods.
There are problems in drying. Ideally, the moisture content should be as low as 3% for long shelf life. It is possible in 6-8 months
when we get good sunshine. At our central facility, we have a solar dryer. On humid and cloudy days, drying period goes up to
2-3 days. We thought of condensing the humidity inside the dryer, but are yet to put it in action.
5) Problems at small scale of production: I think, drying is the major issues. Some farmers do not have adequate space (land
area) for sun drying. Some do not have trees around their farms that act as wind break. As a result, dust contamination takes
place. Dust sometimes carry pathogenic bacteria.
6) Chemicals are readily available. These are manufactured in India. The list / composition is as follows:
7) Cost break up: We had done some costing a little while ago. I'll get that data from our Madurai farm and pass it on to you.
Meanwhile, broad break of operational costs is: about 1/3rd nutrient cost, about 1/3rd as labor cost, about 10% on drying. Since
the tanks are made of plastic sheets hung over wooden pegs, the capital cost is not included in the above. But, it can be
apportioned over a certain period, of say, 10 years. A paper by Dr Urs Heierli gives some idea on this (attached pdf file Spi
SutainableApproach).
8) Manual labor intensive tasks: As mentioned earlier, agitation, which is done continually (for about 5 minutes every 20-30
minutes, depending on sunlight intensity) needs manual labor. One person can handle about 6 tanks of 18 square meters each
(app 200 square feet each). You need 2-3 persons in the morning for 2 hours for harvesting and post harvesting operations.
Collection of dried material will take about an hour. Rough break up is harvesting (10 minutes per tank), washing/ cleaning and
setting to dry (10-15 minutes per tank). Grinding is done using electrically operated grinder, but needs manual control, as
spirulina is heat sensitive.
9) Local consumption: In the past almost entire production was consumed locally by children and women. That was is the
1990's. By about 2005, we felt the limitations of outreach due to low cost and low returns nature of our model, and we thought of
adopt a revenue model wherein the rich persons would buy spirulina at ruling market price (which was much higher than our
production cost) and we would use the surplus to cross-subsidies the poor malnourished children and women. At present,
almost 80% of our production is sold (sometimes at subsidized rates to philanthropic organizations, PLHA, diabetics, etc.).
I hope this will help you make a beginning. In case you need some more info, please let me know.
Thanking you and with regards,
Yugandhar Mandavkar
Thanking you and with regards,
sincerely yours,
Yugandhar Mandavkar
Chairman, Antenna Nutritech Foundation