Coated spirulina offers tasteless, super blue ingredient for supplements and food: Valensa

16-Nov-2010 - Last updated on 16-Nov-2010 at 15:57 GMT

Florida’s Valensa International and India’s Parry Nutraceuticals have introduced a new coated spirulina ingredient, said to mask the flavor of the algae, and enhance the color.

The ingredient, called Pur-Blue Premium Coated Spirulina, as launched recently at SupplySide West in Las Vegas, and uses an all-natural phycocyanin extract coating to mask the flavor of the native spirulina, say the companies.

“From issues like pill size and pill burden to those of taste and overall sensory experience, we find that innovation can lead us to products that consumers find more pleasing at the same time as they are getting healthier,” said Dr Rudi Moerck, president & CEO of Valensa International. The ‘brilliant blue color’ of the new ingredient will ‘attract the eye’, he added, while the “neutral taste will open up a whole new audience for this important nutritional supplement”.

Organic offerings

Valensa and Parry’s already have an established relationship regarding spirulina, dating back several years. Apart from the organic status of Parry’s spirulina, the ingredient is also verified under the US Pharmacopeia ingredient verification program and is GRAS (generally recognized as safe) affirmed.

Parry Nutraceuticals remains one of the only organic spirulina manufacturers left in the world after organic rule changes sucked much of the economic incentive to produce organically out of the sector.

Parry’s self-affirmed the GRAS status of the ingredient in 2008, and the GRAS status is valid for use of the ingredient at an ADI (acceptable daily intake) of 20g per day, said the Indian firm.

Potential applications are said to include non-alcoholic beverages and beverage bases, breakfast cereals, fresh fruit juices, frozen dairy desserts, hard candies, milk products, processed fruit juices, processed vegetable juices, condiments and relishes, grain products, pastas, and snack foods.