Food Supplements Formulated with Spirulina
Ruma Arora Soni, K. Sudhakar, R.S. Rana, Prashant Baredar
Abstract
Microalgae Spirulina is widely known after NASA successfully used it as a space travel nutritional supplement for astronauts. Humanity has not utilized the natural populations of Spirulina until now. However, its potential as an anticancer, antiviral, antioxidant, and antiallergic agent is being realized lately. From an industrial or commercial perspective, Spirulina has the potential in pharmaceutics, food industry, agriculture, perfumery, medicine, and environmental applications. Proper identification of strains, culture conditions, and growth technique are needed for successful commercialization. In the present chapter Spirulina productions from domestic to commercial scale along with its potential application and nutritional benefits are reviewed. The challenges in large-scale cultivation, market potential, and business opportunities are also discussed.