Choosing spirulina
This short guide will walk you in-between the drops of choosing spirulina to take. At the end of this short article, even if you didn’t understand anything and still left with open questions there is only one thing you need to know – spirulina is food, not drug or medicine and should be treated as such.
Colour of healthy spirulina when choosing spirulina
One of the major things to notice when choosing spirulina is the colour. The colour of healthy spirulina is dark green with a blue hint. period. Other colours point on a deficiency of nutrients with the cultivation medium and/or living conditions that don’t suit the spirulina. For example, sudden changes in temperature will result in a yellow-ish spirulina colour. Yellow colour also indicates low levels of Iron (Ferric).
Fresh spirulina is odourless in compersion to dry spirulina forms. The odour is very distinctive and cannot be mistaken or ignored.
If you smell fresh spirulina from very close, i.e. 1-3cm from your nose, you will notice a very mild smell of seaweed and nothing more. In comparison to dry forms of spirulina, powder, flakes, tabs and capsules, fresh spirulina is odourless.
Choosing spirulina – the place of origin
Spirulina, in its nature, is “vacuuming in” or absorbing everything around it. Therefore, it is perfect for cleaning the environment and the body and as a result, the origin of the spirulina must be clean.
The fresh spirulina we grow is followed by the Australian Standard and the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. (the Code) sets legal requirements for the labelling, composition, safety, handling, and primary production and processing of food in Australia.
The fresh spirulina is grown in nature far away from main roads, factories, airports and potential contaminate. The spirulina is grown within greenhouses protected from the elements. Nutrients used to nourish the spirulina are only Food Grade (some of them are sourced in a supermarket) and the water used is rainwater we catch. The later and the spirulina are sent to 3rd party laboratory periodically for quality assurance.
Purity when choosing spirulina
The process of fresh spirulina product ensures 100% purity 100% of the time. To emphasise this point we can say that nothing is added and nothing removed.
In a nutshell, Fresh spirulina is filtered out of its cultivation medium, excess water is extracted from it, it is then packaged and placed in the freezer.
In contrary, dry forms of spirulina are going through processing. That process includes dehydration, exposure to heat, compression (tabs and capsules), added binders. In some cases, the dehydration process is done in open space. As a result of the heat, the machinery and the kinetic force the spirulina is experiencing essential element within it are being damaged and destroyed.
Cultivation medium used to grow the spirulina
As mentioned earlier, the water used in the cultivation system is rainwater. Rainwater is collected year-round into large-size tanks. These water, a sample, is sent to a 3rd party laboratory to be tested for microbiology.
Our physical location, the clean water tanks and the tests allowing us to enjoy clean water and control their mineral contents. The result is a cultivation medium that is specifically tailored for spirulina and allows optimum condition for cultivation.
The nutrients used are solely food-grade nutrients. Some of them purchased in the supermarket isles. The greenhouses are protecting from the element, bugs and sudden temperature changes.
The spirulina analysis
We analyse our spirulina both independently and with the use of a 3rd impartial laboratory. The analysis is done within our labs before every harvest and periodically by the independent laboratory.
Fresh spirulina cultivation method
The cultivation method specified above is ensuring a clean and pure product.
The water is crystal clear, the food we feed the spirulina is human food grade. Temperature and pH are monitored closely and the spirulina is observed under the microscope.
The integrity of the ponds and the greenhouse is inspected daily and maintenance is done periodically. As a result, we ensure zero contamination of any kind.
Filtered water is recycled. We reuse our water thus ensure sustainability. Zero waste.
Harvest methods
Fresh spirulina harvest is done very gently not to break the spirulina strands. The cultivation medium is passed through a clean fine cloth that allows water and small strands of spirulina to pass through. Large mature strands of spirulina are left on the cloth.
The process of packaging fresh spirulina is very gentle. No machine, heat or kinetic force is used at any stage.
Excess water is extracted from the spirulina and only then it is packaged and placed in the freezer.
The result of such careful process allows preserving within the spirulina cell all those great elements spirulina is known for.
Consumption
Fresh spirulina allows you to enjoy 100% of what it has to offer. Because of the gentle process, the spirulina is going through it 100% pure 100% of the time. The nutritional gradient is higher than in dry forms. Dry form, those go through dehydration, machinery, exposure to heat and compression, for example.
Unlike dry forms of spirulina which aren’t mixing well in liquid and remain clunky, taste and smell awful, fresh spirulina mix very well within smoothies, juices and water, with no leftovers, residue and is tasteless and odourless. (and is healthier and richer).
Environmental
Spirulina cultivation and process is an environmentally friendly process. The footprint is very low. Water is recycled, nothing is coming out of the greenhouse and this is a controlled environment. Spirulina itself is producing 20x more protein per hectare than soybeans, 40x more than corn and over 200x more than beef. Spirulina is a very environmentally friendly crop.