Spirulina in combating Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM) and Protein Energy Wasting (PEW) - A review

Full text

J Nut Res (2015) 3(1): 62-79
ISSN: 2348-1064
Abstract
Spirulina, is a simple extract of blue-green algae, which is now
used worldwide as a food product and as a dietary supplement. It
contains, essential amino acids, lipids, vitamins, minerals and
anti-oxidants and can be considered as a wholesome food
supplement. Spirulina contains, approximately, 65% to 71%
protein by dry weight and is claimed to be non toxic nutritious
food with exceptional properties. A large amount of scientific
literature available about Spirulina and its usage in treatment of
child malnutrition, nutrition rehabilitation of HIV-infected,
cancer patients, hepato-protective effects etc. However, there is
no specific review available which gives more emphasis on the
protein and energy content and its effects. In the present work, we
reviewed several papers and reports and paid more attention on
protein content, which is the major constituent of Spirulina and
its effect on various disease conditions and possibility of using
Spirulina in combating against Protein Energy Malnutrition
(PEM) and Protein Energy Wasting (PEW). This work is of
certain significance for nutritionists, doctors and public health
workers involved in combating malnutrition. The risks involved
and optimal intake level for humans and animals are discussed in
detail.
Keywords: Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM):Protein Energy
Wasting (PEW):Spirulina¸ Toxicity.
Introduction
It is not accurately known when people started using microalgae
as food source or food supplement but the first recorded evidence
is from Bernal Diaz del Castillo, a member of Heman Cortez‟s
(Spanish conquistador) troops, reported in 1520, in Tenochtitlan
(today Mexico City):that S. maxima was harvested from the lake
Texcoco, dried and sold for human consumption. Native
Mexicans called it as Tecuitlalt, meaning “excrements of stones”.
The topic of the Tecuitlalt, which was earlier discovered in 1520,
was not mentioned again until 1940, the French phycologist
Pierre Dangeard mentioned about a cake called “dihe”, consumed
by Kanembu tribe, African Lake Chad, Kanem (Chad, Africa).
Dangeard studied the “dihe” samples and found that it is like a
puree of spring form blue algae (Sánchez et al. 2003).
The first unialgal culture achieved by Beijerinck in 1890 and
cultivation only started in 1919 by Otto Warburg‟s (Richmond
2008). Otto Warburg is well known for his work on Chlorella and
his aim is to understand and use them as a model for physiology
and photosynthesis research and not as a potential food source.
He used microalgae, Chlorella, because of its fast growing, non-
motile and simple life cycle properties. Warburg's study was
important because he was able to understand the number of
quantas required to possess photosynthesis and he also proposed
the concept of light utilization efficiency and conversion of light
to chemical energy (Richmond 2008).
During 1964 and 1965, the botanist Jean Leonard, during his
Belgian Trans-Sabaran Expedition, confirmed that dihe is made
up of Spirulina and thus chemical analysis was started on
Spirulina (Sanchez, 2003). During that time, Léonard received a
request from Sosa-Texcoco Ltd, Mexico to study a bloom of
algae in their sodium hydroxide production facility. As a result,
the first systematic and detailed study of the growth requirements
and physiology of Spirulina was performed. This study, which
was a part of Ph.D. thesis by Zarrouk (1966):was the basis for
establishing the first large-scale production plant of Spirulina
(Habib et al. 2008).
A single cell protein, which is nothing but a protein derived from
culture of single celled organisms, has gained popularity as
alternative food source during World War 1 and World War II.
After the formation of United Nations in the post war period,
hunger and malnutrition problems were highlighted by the Food
and Agriculture Organization of United Nations and has
introduced the concept of protein gap and reported that 25% of
Spirulina in combating Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM) and
Protein Energy Wasting (PEW) - A review
Siva Kiran RR, Madhu GM*, Satyanarayana SV
Received: 10 March 2015 / Received in revised form: 17 December 2015, Accepted: 02 February 2016, Published online: 10 February 2016
© The Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism 2013-2016
Siva Kiran RR, Madhu GM*
Department of Chemical Engineering, M.S. Ramaiah Institute of
Technology, Bangalore-560054
*Email: gmmadhu@gmail.com
Satyanarayana SV
Department of Chemical Engineering, JNTU College of
Engineering, Anantapur-515002

J Nut Res (2015) 3(1): 62-79
63
Table 1: Nutrition profile of spirulina powder from various companies including Earthrise Nutrionals, USA (Gershwin and Belay 2007):DIC
LIFETEC Co. Ltd. Japan (Hainan-DIC Microalgae Co. Ltd China) (http://www.dlt-spl.co.jp/business/en/spirulina/elements.html):Parry Nutraceuticals
(A Division of E.I.D.Parry (India) Ltd.):India (www.parrynutraceuticals.com/PDF/Parry_Organic_Spirulina_powder.pdf): Nutrex Hawaii, USA
(Moorhead et al. 2011) and Foundation Antenna Technologies, Geneva, Switzerland (Falquet 1997)
Composition Per 100 g
Companies
Earthrise
Nutrionals,
USA
DIC LIFETEC
Co. Ltd. Japan
(Hainan-DIC
Microalgae Co.
Ltd. China)
Parry
Nutraceuticals,
India
Nutrex Hawaii,
USA
Foundation
Antenna
Technologies,
Switzerland
1. Macronutrients
Calories (kcal)
373
386
410
333
Total fat
5.6 g
8.2 g
5 to 6 g
5 g
4 - 7 g
Myristic (C 14:0)
10 mg
16.4 mg
10-30 mg
40 mg
Palmitic (C 16:0)
2440 mg
3632 mg
2000 - 2500 mg
6100 mg
1032 - 1806 mg
Palmitoleic (C 16:1)
330 mg
237.8 mg
594 mg
152 - 266 mg
Heptadecanoic (C17:0)
20 mg
24.6 mg
Stearic (C18:0)
80 mg
90.2 mg
10 - 50 mg
250 mg
68 - 119 mg
Oleic (C18:1)
120 mg
246 mg
100 - 200 mg
51 mg
664 - 1162 mg
Linoleic (C18:2)
970 mg
2000 mg
750 -1200 mg
3300 mg
480 - 840 mg
Gamma-Linolenic (C18:3)
1350 mg
1238 mg
1000 - 1500 mg
3200 mg
1604 - 2807 mg
Others (C20)
140 mg
715 mg
Total carbohydrate
17.8 g
12.7 g
15 to 25 g
16 g
15 - 25 g
Dietary fiber
7.7 g
8.3 g
7 g
4 - 7 g
Sugars
1.3 g
4.4
9 g
Lactose
<0.1 g
-
Protein
63 g
69.4 g
56 to 69 g
67 g
55 - 70 g
Ash
< 9 %
5.6 %
6 to 9 g
8 - 13 g
7 - 13 g
Moisture
< 7 %
< 4.1 %
2.5 to 4.5 %
3 - 6 g
3 - 7 g
Essential amino acids
Histidine
1000 mg
1170 mg
500 - 1500 mg
1500 mg
1000 mg
Isoleucine
3500 mg
3480 mg
3000 - 4000 mg
3260 mg
3500 mg
Leucine
5380 mg
5610 mg
3000 - 5000 mg
4890 mg
5400 mg
Lysine
2960 mg
3080 mg
3000 - 6000 mg
2620 mg
2900 mg
Methionine
1170 mg
1590 mg
1000 - 6000 mg
1330 mg
1400 mg
Phenylalanine
2750 mg
2870 mg
2500 - 3500 mg
2610 mg
2800 mg
Threonine
2860 mg
3300 mg
1500 - 3000 mg
2810 mg
3200 mg
Tryptophan
1090 mg
1100 mg
1000 - 2000 mg
8500 mg
900 mg
Valine
3940 mg
3900 mg
1000 - 3000 mg
3740 mg
4000 mg
Nonessential amino acids
Alanine
4590 mg
4910 mg
4000 - 5000 mg
4660 mg
4700 mg
Arginine
4310 mg
4190 mg
3000 - 5000 mg
4760 mg
4300 mg
Aspartic acid
5990 mg
6180 mg
1500 - 3000 mg
7280 mg
6100 mg
Cystine
590 mg
700 mg
500 - 750 mg
5600 mg
600 mg
Glutamic acid
9130 mg
9290 mg
6000 - 9000 mg
8440 mg
9100 mg
Glycine
3130 mg
3210 mg
2000 - 4000 mg
3190 mg
3200 mg
Proline
2380 mg
2400 mg
2000 - 3000 mg
2470 mg
2700 mg
Serine
2760 mg
3210 mg
3000 - 4500 mg
2650 mg
3200 mg
Tyrosine
2500 mg
2740 mg
1000 - 2000 mg
2380 mg
3000 mg
2. Vitamins
Vitamin A
352000 IU
18000mcg
11250 IU
Vitamin K
1090 mcg
2220 mcg
0.90 - 1.05 mg
2500 mcg
2.24 mg
Vitamin C
0 mg
0 mg
-
0 mg
traces
Vitamin E
10 IU
10.6 mg
9500 mcg
10 mg
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine HCl)
0.5 mg
4.82 mg
0.15 - 0.30 mg
117 mcg
3.5 mg
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
4.53 mg
3.93 mg
4.0 - 7.0 mg
4667 mcg
4 mg
Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
14.9 mg
39.3 mg
10.0 - 25.0 mg
13330 mcg
14 mg
Vitamin B6 (Pyridox. HCl)
0.96 mg
0.91 mg
0.5 - 1.5 mg
1000 mcg
0.8 mg
Vitamin B12
162 mcg
0.24 mg
0.10 - 0.30 mg
300 mcg
0.32 mg
Biotin
5 mcg
32.3 mcg
17 mcg
0.005 mg
Folic acid
10 mcg
73 mcg
0.05 - 0.30 mg
206 mcg
0.01 mg
Phantothenic acid
100 mcg
1.23 mg
150 mcg
0.1 mg
Inositol
64 mg
103 mg
70 - 90 mg
57 mg
64 mg
3. Minerals
Calcium
468 mg
70.5 mg
60 - 110 mg
334 mg
1000 mg
Iron
87.4 mg
83.3 mg
25 - 100 mg
217 mg
180 mg
Phosphorus
961 mg
921 mg
700 - 1000 mg
1100 mg
800 mg
Iodine
142 mcg
0.2 - 0.4 mg
500 mcg
Magnesium
319 mg
278 mg
200 - 300 mg
500 mg
400 mg
Zinc
1.45 mg
1.04 mg
1.0 - 3.0 mg
3 mg
30 mg
Selenium
25.5 mcg
-
0.003 - 0.010 mg
0.03 mg
0.01 - 0.04 ppm

64
J Nut Res (2015) 3(1): 62-79
world‟s population has a deficiency of protein intake in their diet.
Many research projects on yeast, chlorella, Spirulina, some
bacteria and moulds for large scale production of “single cell
proteins” were launched. In 1950, the United States and Japan
began the experimental cultivations of this microorganism to
investigate its chemical composition and industrial applications.
Studies were accelerated after the release of the book, Algal
Culture from Laboratory to Pilot Plant (Burlew, 1953):which
triggered research work around the globe (Richmond, 2008).
Japan was the first country to produce Chlorella based diet food
(Sanchez, 2003). Spirulina, in 1967 was established as a
“wonderful food source” by the International Association of
Applied Microbiology.
The first pilot plant which produced 150 tonnes of dry Spirulina
biomass per year started production in 1973; its production
capacity was thereafter raised to 300 tonnes of medium-grade
product per year from 12.0 hectares of natural ponds by Sosa-
Texcoco Ltd, Mexico. The annual value of Spirulina production
represented a third of the company's income from the
manufacture of powdered soda from the lake deposits. In 1995,
Sosa-Texcoco ceased production of Spirulina. The only remnant
today, Lake Texcoco, still has a living algae Spirulina population.
From 1970, the nutritional and medicinal studies on Spirulina
have been extensively studied along with its applications in water
treatment. According to the national report received by Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO):United Nation, the production of
algae culture was greater than 68000 tons in 2008 and major
contribution from China and Chile. China started to produce
Spirulina through factories in 1990 and there were more than 80
factories by 1997 (Habib et al. 2008). Spirulina is produced in at
least 30 countries (Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Burkina
Faso, Chad, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Cuba,
Ecuador, France, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Madagascar,
Martinique, Mexico, Myanmar, Philippines, Peru, Portugal,
Spain, Thailand, Togo, United States of America and Vietnam)
(Habib et al. 2008).
Benefits of Spirulina
Spirulina does not need fertile land and has an advantage of
having rapid growth within 20 days, takes less energy input and
less water per kilo than soya, corn proteins and is environmental
friendly as there is possibility of recycling water after harvesting
and produce more oxygen than trees per acre by consuming
carbon dioxide (H.E. Remigio M. Maradona 2008).
Very few studies were found to describe the actual respiration
rate of Spirulina Sp. and in the below analysis, we could able to
collect some information to prove Spirulina produces more
oxygen than trees per acre. The notations used to measure trees
size is “dbh”. dbh refers to the tree diameter measured at 4.5 feet
above the ground and based on a study conducted on trees and
their oxygen release rates by David et al. (2007):trees with 1 - 3
inch - dbh produce 2.9 kg O2/per year; 9-12 inch dbh: 22.6 kg
O2/year; 18-21 inch dbh: 45.6 kg O2/year; 27-30 inch dbh; 91.1
kg O2/year and greater than 30 inch dbh 110.3 kg/O2 year. With
reference to the data reported by Dinesh et al. (2010):after
calculations, 42 ft2 area with 1000 L can produce approx. 20.717
kg oxygen per year with cell concentration varying from 1 * 105
to 5 * 105 cells per ml and 200 ft2 area with 4000 L, can produce
approx. 100 kg oxygen per year, if cell concentration per ml
increases, still increase in the rate of oxygen release can be
achieved. With reference to the respiration rate reported by Rym
(2012):115.89 kg O2 per year and as per Ohira et al. (1998):5.676
kg O2 per year per 150 grams dry weight Spirulina, can be
Copper
0.47 mg
0.26 mg
0.2 - 0.4 mg
0.67 mg
1.2 mg
Manganese
3.26 mg
3.81 mg
1.0 - 3.0 mg
13.3 mg
5 mg
Boron
1000 mcg
0.733 mg
Chromium
<400 mcg
0.39 mg
0.1 - 0.3 mg
1.34mg
0.28 mg
Molybdenum
1000 mcg
< 400 mcg
Potassium
1660 mg
1520 mg
1000 - 1500 mg
2000 mg
1400 mg
Sodium
641 mg
210 mg
700 - 1000 mg
1000 mg
900 mg
4. Phytonutrients
Phycocyanin
14000 mg
6550 mg
14000 - 16000 mg
8000 mg
15000 mg
Chlorophyll
1000 mg
1220 mg
1100 -1500 mg
1000 mg
1100 mg
Superoxide dismutase (SOD)
531000 IU
1000unit/g
3600 units
Gamma linolenic acid (GLA)
1080 mg
1067 mg
1300 mg
Total carotenoids
504 mg
360 - 500 mg
500 mg
370 mg
β-carotene
211 mg
216 mg
140 - 200 mg
227 mg
140 mg
Other Carotenes
30 mg
Zeaxanthin
101 mg
114 mg
125 - 200 mg
300 mg
Xanthophylls
170 mg
180 - 300 mg
Myxoxanthophyll
70 mg
Zeaxanthin
60 mg
Cryptoxanthin
10 mg
Echinenone
10 mg
Other Xanthophylls
20 mg
Sulfolipids
100 mg
Glycolipids
2000 mg
5. Other Minerals
Arsenic
< 1 ppm
-
< 0.50 ppm
< 0.5 ppm
0.06 - 2 ppm
Cadmium
< 0.5 ppm
< 0.20 ppm
<0.2 ppm
0.01 - 0.1 ppm
Mercury
< 0.05 ppm
< 0.05 ppm
<0.025 ppm
0.01 = 0.2 ppm
Lead
\< 2.5 ppm
-
< 0.2 ppm
<0.2 ppm
0.6 - 5.1 ppm
Germanium
60 mcg
Silicon
743 ppm
Sulfur
0.69 g
Cobalt
0.30 ppm
Fluorene
112-630 ppm

J Nut Res (2015) 3(1): 62-79
65
produced. It is quite evident based on the above scientific data
that Spirulina produce more oxygen than trees per acre.
Spirulina and its nutritional composition
The common name, Spirulina, refers to the dried biomass of
Arthrospira platensis, (Gershwin and Belay 2007):which belongs
to the oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria that cover the groups
Cyanobacteria and Prochlorales. These photosynthetic
organisms, Cyanobacteria, were first considered as alge until
1962 and for the first time, these blue green algae were added to
prokaryote kingdom and proposed to call these microorganisms
as Cyanobacteria (Stanier and Van Neil 1962):where algae is
considered to be a very large and diverse group of eukaryotic
organisms. This designation was accepted and published in 1974
by the Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, which is
worldwide considered as a bible for biologists (Sánchez et al.
2003). Scientifically, there is a quite distinction between
Spirulina and Arthrospira genus. Stizenberger, in 1852 gave the
name Arthrospira based on the septa presence, helical form and
multicellular structure and Gomont in 1892, confirmed aseptate
form of the Spirulina genus. Geitler in 1932, reunified both
members designating them as Spirulina without considering the
septum. The worldwide research on microalgae was carried out in
the name of Spirulina, but the original species exploited as food
with excellent health properties belongs to genus Arthrospira.
This common difference between scientists and customers is
difficult to change (Sánchez et al. 2003). These Arthrospira
genus, constitute a helical trichomes of varying size and with
various degree of coiling including tightly coiled morphology to
even straight uncoiled form. The filaments are solitary and
reproduce by binary fission and the cells of the trichomes vary
from 2 µm to 12 µm and can sometime reach up to 16 µm.
Species of the genus Arthrospira have been isolated from alkaline
brackish and saline waters in tropical and subtropical regions.
Among the various species included in the genus Arthrospira, A.
platensis is the most widely distributed and is mainly found in
Africa but also in Asia. Arthrospira maxima is believed to be
found in California and Mexico (Gershwin 2007).
Since, 1970, Spirulina was analyzed physically and chemically
and numerous properties were evaluated. Based on the nutrition
profile listing of various multi-national global players, Spirulina
contains approximately 65 to 70% proteins, 15 to 25%
carbohydrates, 4 to 9 % fats and remaining vitamins, minerals,
pigments and very few toxic contaminations. In this article, the
main focus is review of all the works carried out on protein
content for combating against Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM)
and Protein Energy Wasting (PEW) around the globe is discussed
in detail.
Comparision of protein content in Spirulina with other foods
Spirulina contains more natural proteins when compared with
other natural foods (Table 2). The true protein digestibility and
the biological activity of Spirulina protein calculated by
Narasimha et al. (1982) is 75.5 and 68 respectively. The
Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein
consumption is 0.8g/kg body weight and for athletes, RDA ranges
from 1.2 to 1.4 g/kg/day (Otten et al. 2006). The advantage of
Spirulina protein can withstand without denaturating up to 670C
(Sánchez et al. 2003).
Table 2: Comparision of protein content of other foods with Spirulina
(Henrikson 1994)
Food Type
Crude Protein (%)
Spirulina powder
65 to 70
Whole Dried egg
47
Skimmed powdered milk
37
Whole soybean flour
36
Peanuts
26
Chicken
24
Fish
22
Beef meat
22
Cereal flours
<12
Vegetables
< 5
Risk assessment of Spirulina
Extensive care should be taken while consuming or prescribing
Spirulina as a protein source. Spirulina has more vitamin A, in
terms of beta carotenes, when compared with any natural foods
and care should be taken while administrating Spirulina that it
should not exceed the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA)
of 400 mcg to 900 mcg for normal adult male or female, where as
lactation stage, it can go up to 1300 mcg per day. Daily intake of
Vitamin A >25,000 IU for >6 years an >100,000 IU for >6
months are considered toxic (Fairfield and Fletcher 2002). 100
grams of Spirulina, contains greater than 353000 IU (Gershwin
and Belay 2007) and based on the recommended dietary
allowance of Vitamin A, it is recommended to consume only 7
grams of Spirulina per day which contains 25000 IU and children
less than 6 years to 6 months can take 25 grams of Spirulina per
day.
Excessive consumption of vitamin K, up to 0.2 g/kg body weight
does not show any toxic effect on rats (Molitor and Robinson
1940) and recommended RDA for vitamin K is >19 years, 90
mcg per day and >6 months to 12 months, 2.5 mcg per day and it
varies between 30 mcg to 60 mcg for 1 to 19 years. With
reference to these values, <1 year to 6 months kids, it is
recommended to give 4 grams of Spirulina per day for adults
which contributes about 90 mcg vitamin K and < 2 grams for 1
year to 6 months kids. Based on the composition, other vitamins
are within RDA limit per 10 grams of Spirulina powder. After
observing, RDA for adults for minerals, calcium (1300 mg):iron
(10 mg):iodine (150mcg): phosphorus (700mg):Magnesium (420
mg):Zinc (11 mg):Selenium (0.055 mg):Copper (0.9
mg):Manganese (2.3 mg):Boron (1000 to 10000
mcg):Germanium (1.5 mg) (Schauss 1991):Potassium (4700 mg)
and Sodium (1500 mg):most of them are within the range for
consumption of 100 grams of Spirulina. Based on RDA values
for chromium (35 mcg) and molybdenum (45 mcg) are safe for
10 grams of Spirulina per day. Coming to the pigments,
phycocyanin at 0.25 to 5.0 g/kg body weight have not shown any
toxic effect in rats (Naidu et al. 1999) and GLA can be consumed
up to 1.6 g per day. RDA recommends 30 to 45 grams of
carbohydrates per meal and maximum of 195 grams per day and
maximum of 40 % of calories coming from carbohydrates and
fats about 20 to 60 g per day for an average adult (Dietary
Reference Intakes, 2004).
Overall, based on the complete nutritional assessment, normal
healthy adult can take < 4 grams of Spirulina per day. But, it is
found that there is no toxic effect on rats, when consumed greater
than 0.8 g/kg of pure Spirulina powder (Krishnakumari et al.
1981). Based on the nutritional facts and composition and RDA
values, it is recommended to take < 4 grams of Spirulina per day
for healthy adult due to the presence of excess Vitamin A and not

66
J Nut Res (2015) 3(1): 62-79
more than 10 grams as it exceeds the RDA values of heavy
metals (Table 3).
The black color in the Table 3 shows that the particular nutrient
exceeds the RDA value. It was not colored black at 4 grams at
Vitamin A and Vitamin B, even though they are exceeding the
RDA values as the Vitamin A, upper limit is 7500 mcg and
Vitamin B, there is no upper limit (Dietary Reference Intakes,
2004). Chromium, molybdenum and vitamin A are exceeding
RDA values at 10 grams of Spirulina and at 15 grams
consumption, vitamin K is exceeding and at 25 grams, Iron was
exceeding RDA value and at 100 grams, protein, manganese,
phosphorous, vitamin B2 are exceeding and at 200 grams,
vitamin E, B3, B6, copper, iodine and magnesium are exceeding
and at 500 grams, calcium, vitamin B1, potassium and sodium are
exceeding RDA and it is strongly recommended to consume less
than 4 grams per day for an average healthy adult to avoid any
toxic effect based on the above scientific data. Care should be
taken while consuming and data related to cobalt and fluorine in
water used for Spirulina production was not reported by many
companies and these contents will also affect the quality of
Spirulina along with arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury and silicon
concentrations. We believe that the above Table 3 will give basic
idea about Spirulina and risks involved in consumption and
industries should take care while preparing formulations or food
fortification products using Spirulina.
Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM)
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines malnutrition as
„„the cellular imbalance between the supply of nutrients and
energy and the body‟s demand for them to ensure growth,
maintenance, and specific functions” and Protein Energy
Malnutrition (PEM) refers to a form of malnutrition, where there
is inadequate calorie or protein intake. Malnutrition is present in
both developed as well as under developing nations. Due to lack
of adequate food supply caused by socio-economical, political
and environmental factors, malnutrition was prevalent in
developing countries and in developed countries 6 to 51% of
hospitalized children were found to be malnourished (Grover and
Ee 2009).
Table 3: Risk assessment of spirulina based on US-RDA values for healthy adults (19 to 50) years and the black color indicates excess than RDA
Nutrients
US - RDA
(RDI, 2004)
Consumption pattern (per day)
4 gram
10 grams
15 grams
25 grams
100 grams
200 grams
500 grams
Total fat
20-35 g
0.224 g
0.56 g
0.84 g
1.4 g
5.6 g
11.2 g
28 g
Linoleic (C18:2)
10-17 g
0.0388 g
0.097 g
0.1455 g
0.2425 g
0.97 g
1.94 g
4.85 g
Total carbohydrate
130 g
0.712 g
1.78 g
2.67 g
4.45 g
17.8 g
35.6 g
89 g
Fibre
38 g
0.308 g
0.77 g
1.155 g
1.925 g
7.7 g
15.4 g
38.5 g
Protein
46-56 g
2.52 g
6.3 g
9.45 g
15.75 g
63 g
126 g
315 g
Vitamin A (Upper
Limit: 7500 mcg)
700-900 mcg
4224 mcg
10560 mcg
15840 mcg
26400 mcg
105600 mcg
211200 mcg
528000 mcg
Vitamin K (Upper
Limit: No adverse
effect)
90 -120 mcg
43.6 mcg
109 mcg
163.5 mcg
272.5 mcg
1090 mcg
2180 mcg
5450 mcg
Vitamin C
75-90 mg
0 mg
0 mg
0 mg
0 mg
0 mg
0 mg
0 mg
Vitamin E
15 mg
0.36 mg
0.9 mg
1.35 mg
2.25 mg
9 mg
18 mg
45 mg
Vitamin B1
1.1 - 1.2 mg
0.02 mg
0.05 mg
0.075 mg
0.125 mg
0.5 mg
1 mg
2.5 mg
Vitamin B2
1.1-1.3 mg
0.1812 mg
0.453 mg
0.6795 mg
1.1325 mg
4.53 mg
9.06 mg
22.65 mg
Vitamin B3
14-16 mg
0.596 mg
1.49 mg
2.235 mg
3.725 mg
14.9 mg
29.8 mg
74.5 mg
Vitamin B6
1.3-1.7 mg
0.0384 mg
0.096 mg
0.144 mg
0.24 mg
0.96 mg
1.92 mg
4.8 mg
Vitamin B12 (Upper
Limit: No adverse
effect)
2.4 -2.6 mcg
6.48 mcg
16.2 mcg
24.3 mcg
40.5 mcg
162 mcg
324 mcg
810 mcg
Biotin
30 mcg
0.2 mcg
0.5 mcg
0.75 mcg
1.25 mcg
5 mcg
10 mcg
25 mcg
Folic acid
400 mcg
0.4 mcg
1 mcg
1.5 mcg
2.5 mcg
10 mcg
20 mcg
50 mcg
Phantothenic acid
5 mg
0.004 mg
0.01 mg
0.015 mg
0.025 mg
0.1 mg
0.2 mg
0.5 mg
Inositol
Not available
2.56 mg
6.4 mg
9.6 mg
16 mg
64 mg
128 mg
320 mg
Calcium
1000-1200 mg
18.72 mg
46.8 mg
70.2 mg
117 mg
468 mg
936 mg
2340 mg
Iron
8-18 mg
3.496 mg
8.74 mg
13.11 mg
21.85 mg
87.4 mg
174.8 mg
437 mg
Phosphorus
700 mg
38.44 mg
96.1 mg
144.15 mg
240.25 mg
961 mg
1922 mg
4805 mg
Iodine
150 mcg
5.68 mcg
14.2 mcg
21.3 mcg
35.5 mcg
142 mcg
284 mcg
710 mcg
Magnesium
310-420 mg
12.76 mg
31.9 mg
47.85 mg
79.75 mg
319 mg
638 mg
1595 mg
Zinc
8-11 mg
0.058 mg
0.145 mg
0.2175 mg
0.3625 mg
1.45 mg
2.9 mg
7.25 mg
Selenium
55 mcg
(Upper Limit -
400 mcg)
1.02 mcg
2.55 mcg
3.825 mcg
6.375 mcg
25.5 mcg
51 mcg
127.5 mcg
Copper
900 mcg
18.8 mcg
47 mcg
70.5 mcg
117.5 mcg
470 mcg
940 mcg
2350 mcg
Manganese
1.8-2.3 mg
0.1304 mg
0.326 mg
0.489 mg
0.815 mg
3.26 mg
6.52 mg
16.3 mg
Boron
Not available
40 mcg
100 mcg
150 mcg
250 mcg
1000 mcg
2000 mcg
5000 mcg
Chromium
20-35 mcg
16 mcg
40 mcg
60 mcg
100 mcg
400 mcg
800 mcg
2000 mcg
Molybdenum
45 mcg
40 mcg
100 mcg
150 mcg
250 mcg
1000 mcg
2000 mcg
5000 mcg
Potassium
4.7 g
0.0664 g
0.166 g
0.249 g
0.415 g
1.66 g
3.32 g
8.3 g
Sodium
1.2-1.5 g
0.02564 g
0.0641 g
0.09615 g
0.16025 g
0.641 g
1.282 g
3.205 g
Germanium
1.5 mg /day
(Schauss 1991)
0.0024 mg
0.006 mg
0.009 mg
0.015 mg
0.06 mg
0.12 mg
0.3 mg
Cobalt
25-600 mcg
(Mucklow et al.
1990)
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Fluorene
3 - 4 mg
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA

J Nut Res (2015) 3(1): 62-79
67
Protein Energy Wasting (PEW)
Wasting refers to the process by which a debilitating diseases
cause‟s muscle and fat tissue to waste “away” and it is also
referred to acute malnutrition. Protein Energy Wasting (PEW):
term was coined by the “International Society of Renal Nutrition
and Metabolism (ISRNM)” to address the syndromes of muscle
wasting, malnutrition and inflammation during Chronic Kidney
Diseases (CKD) orAcute Kidney Injury (AKI) and it also means
loss of body protein mass and fuel reserves (Fouque et al. 2008).
Spirulina: PEM and PEW
The idea of using Spirulina to combat against malnutrition i.e.
hunger alleviation, was conceived in 1984 by Fox RD, in his
work on fighting against malnutrition with Spirulina with various
available technologies. He also promoted villagers to grow
Spirulina from recycled village wastes and proposed to use
Spirulina as concentrated nutritional food supplement to increase
immuno-resistance against infectious diseases (Fox 1985).
Henrikson (1989):in his book on “Earth food Spirulina”,
explained various nutritional properties, clinical studies and in
recent updated edition released in 2010, he has also included
chapters on alge for bio-fuel production and interesting recipes. S.
platensis is described as a good source of complementary diet to
prevent malnutrition in developing countries (Kim 1990). The
idea of cultivation of Spirulina or any other alternative protein
source, for reducing the incidents off hunger, starvation, and
malnutrition was suggested by Rodulfo (1990). Bucaille (1990)
studied the effectiveness of Spirulina algae as food for children
with protein-energy malnutrition. Many experiments were done
on rats to prove the renoprotective properties of Spirulina
(Table 9).
Table 4: Production of Spirulina and its social acceptance, cost effectiveness studies for hunger alleviation in developing countries
Country
Summary of Results
Subject
Reference
Chile
Mass cultivation, process optimization and economic analysis for growth of spirulina in 30
ponds (1120 m2) was carried out at Santaigo production facility, Chile
Production
Valderrama et al.
1987
India
Spirulina (Arthrospira) fusiformis was grown in small mud pots to provide food supplements
for a family has been developed and acceptability of the method as a family enterprise was
evaluated.
Production
Jeeji and
Seshadri 1988
USA
Earthrise Farms, USA tried popularizing spirulina by preparing granola bar and various kinds
of pasta
Product
development
Henrikson 1989
Vietnam
Spirulina platensis culture was bought from France to Institute of Biology, Hanoi, Vietnam. In
1977, a pilot pond of 12 m2 was started in Thuanha, Vietnam and in 1980, it is expanded to
3000 m2 and all process parameters were optimized to suite Vietnam atmosphere.
Production
Kim 1990
Bangladesh
Spiruilna cultivation in pilot plant was started by Applied Botany Section, Biological Research
Division, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Laboratories
(BCSIR):Dhaka. A technology was developed to suite Bangladesh environment.
Production
(Nahar and
Begum 1991)
France
The use of Spirulina as a possible feed for aqua culture was demonstrated in the study by
growing tilapia, small pelagic fishes, shrimp, and mollusks in a series of artificial canals.
Aqua culture
Fox 1999
Kenya
Five spirulina cultivation sites were selected and the possibility for further development and
promotion were evaluated in the project. It is found that is Significant efforts need to be made
to improve the scope of production, bringing nutrition experts and NGO‟s at national level.
Production
Harris 2010
Brazil
Spirulina was proved to be an adequate protein source for recovery of body weight and muscle
protein of protein malnourished rats.
Rats
Voltarelli 2011
India
Value added extruded product with 5% Spirulina + 95% Wheat flour + 5% Corn flour was
developed and sensory parameters like taste, odour, texture, color, appearance were found to
be at acceptable level.
Product
development
Vijayarani et al.
2012
Brazil.
Different formulations of cassava cake were developed varying the concentration of
Spirulina platensis and cassava bran. Based on the sensory tests, the product received excellent
acceptance level.
Product
development
Navacchi et al.
2012
Chad
Detailed explanation about the Spirulina and its development in Chad since 1988 and
initiatives of the BIEP (Interminestrial Bureau of Studies and Programing):in collaboration
with the BECMA (Bureau of Studies and Culture of Microalgae) were outlines in this paper
along with the production technology.
Production
Halawlaw 2013
Iran
The Spirulina platensis and Chlorella vulgaris were incorporated into probiotic fermented
milks to increase the functional properties.
Product
development
Beheshtipour
2013
Indonesia
The aim of the work is to develop a product for local production of Spirulina in Indonesia and
promoting amoung uneducated Indonesian fishermen.
Production
Van Koolwijk
2014
Egypt
Sixteen food formulas were prepared for as complementary food babies (1-3 years age) by
using spirulina at 0, 2.5 0.5 and 7.5% for the production of two types of baby food one of them
is ready to eat by using some fruits and vegetables and evaluated.
Product
development
Sharoba 2014
Algeria
The product formulation composed by 2/3 of jujube syrup, 1/6 Spirulina water extract and 1/6
natural lemon juice was found to be best and further analysis of nutrients was done. The
formulation reveals satificatory microbiological quality and also allows exploration of the
Ziziphus jujuba fruit which is in extinction in Algeria.
Product
development
Benahmed et al.
2014
Arab League
Five blends were prepared with one control and other blends with varying spirulina
concentration from 2.5 to 10% and properties like taste, texture, odour, nutritional
composition, physical and functional properties and microbiological properties were
evaluated.
Product
development
Morsy et al.
2014
France
The phenomenon of social conversion by farmers from traditional agricultural systems to
Spirulina production was explained in detail along with the impact on conversion.
Production
Stéfanini 2015
India
High saline (0.4M NaCl) and low nitrogen (<0.01 M NaNO3) significantly increased the
carotenoid production in Spirulina platensis, which may be resulted due to excessive
formation of free radicals under stress.
Production
Sujatha and
Nagarajan 2013
Spain
Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) was used to enrich Vitamin E in spirulina and 29.4 mg/g
vitamin E was achieved.
Production
Mendiola et al.
2008

68
J Nut Res (2015) 3(1): 62-79
PEM due to hunger
There are two types of hungers, one is hunger due to lack of food
and other is lack of micronutrients, “hidden hunger” (Bindu and
Channarayappa, 2014). Lack of adequate food sources in under
developing countries and lack of proper nutritional awareness in
developed countries, resulted in micronutrient deficiency and
malnutrition. The self sufficiency in some developing countries
was achieved by increasing the production of cereal crops but it
resulted in decrease in the production of pulses which are main
sources of protein (Babu and Rajasekaran 1991). This may be the
prime cause of malnutrition in developing countries.
Spirulina can be considered as a best source of protein in terms of
gram protein per cultivatable land ratio but major problem faced
in developing countries is the acceptance level of this super food
into daily recipes. Various studies from 1991 on social
acceptance of algal supplements as alternative food, cost
effectiveness in growing Spirulina in developing countries, field
and clinical studies on human population were done by many
researchers (Table 4 and Table 5) to understand and alleviate
hidden hunger and malnutrition (Babu and Rajasekaran 1991) and
provide food security. Few studies on each and every micro
nutrient were tabulated in Table 7 and Spirulina as an alternative
cheap feed for animals and aqua culture was also tabulated in
Table 8.
In 1989, Earthrise Farms, USA, tried popularizing granular bars.
Mass cultivation, process optimization and economic analysis for
growing Spirulina was done at Santaigo production facility, Chile
(Valderrama et al. 1987). In 1988, Jeeji and Seshadri tried
popularizing mud pot cultivation in India i.e. 30 to 40 L capacity
open culture vessel to produce 2 grams of Spirulina per day per
person and 3 pots are sufficient to produce enough Spirulina for a
family with 3 to 4 members. Mass production in Vietnam was
started from 1980 (Kim 1990). Pilot scale plants in 1980‟s were
started in Bangladesh by Applied Botany Section, Biological
Research Division, Bangladesh Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research Laboratories (BCSIR):Dhaka and later
extended to rural communities (Habib et al. 2008). Detailed
experimentation about Spirulina since 1988 was done by BIEP
(Interminestrial Bureau of Studies and Programing):in
collaboration with the BECMA (Bureau of Studies and Culture of
Microalgae in Chad (Halawlaw 2013). In China, Spirulina
Table 5: Clinical studies for combating malnutrition using Spirulina in developed and in under developing countries.
Country
Summary of Results
Subject
Reference
France
At the Hôpital Bichat, France, Spirulina (80-90 grams/day) was administrated to
undernourished children. Adsorption of Spirulina protein was found to be good and also
observed that in spite of heavy dosage, there is no noteworthy increase in blood uric acid.
Children
Santillan 1974
Mexico
Administration of 2 to 3 grams of protein (in terms of either Spirulina/Cow‟s milk/Soya) per
body weight for four days was given to 10 children aged 5 to 10 months and it found that the
relative retention of Spirulina is high when compared with cow‟s milk and soya.
Children
Proteus Inc.
(1975)
China
27 children aged 2-6 years old were administrated with 1.5 g Spirulina mixed with 12 g baked
barley sprout, Vitaimn B1 and Zinc. The children in a short period recovered from diarrhea
and constipation at Nanjing Children Hospital, China.
Children
Miao 1987
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo
Spirulina was administrated to 28 children suffering from protein-energy diseases. The
parameters measured during the study, showed a positive effect of Spirulina on patients.
Children
Bucaille 1990
Austria
Suggested to use C13 stable isotope as tracer to assess the impact of infection in
undernourished people and on kinetics of protein breakdown and synthesis.
Malnourished
population
IAEA (1992)
India
1 gram of dried Spirulina fusiformis was given every day as nutritional supplement to 5000
pre-school children for a period of 6 to 13 months and clinical parameters were evaluated.
Based on the survey at the end of the study, 4% reduction in incidence of Bitot's spots was
observed.
Children
Seshadri 1993
Burkina-Faso
The effectiveness of giving 5 g/day of Spirulina to 182 children for 90 days, suffering from
malnutrition does not resulted in any change in weight gain.
Children
Branger et al.
2003
Burkina-Faso
Spirulina + Misola (millet, soja, peanut) based food was given to 550 undernourished children
suffering from malnutrition at the Centre Medical St. Camille, Uagadougou, Burkina Faso.
This study confirms that Spirulina plus Misola are good food supplements for undernourished
children.
Children
Simpore et al.
2006
Brazil
Young Wistar rats (30 days old) were fed for 60 days with 17% protein from Spirulina and
compared to rats fed 17% protein casein. The body weight, length, soleus muscle total protein,
protein degradation and DNA were similar in both groups but The muscle protein synthesis
rates were increased in rats fed with Spirulina diet.
Rats
Voltarelli and de
Mello 2008
Brazil
Spirulina was proved to be an adequate protein source for recovery of body weight and muscle
protein of protein malnourished rats.
Rats
Voltarelli 2011
India
900 mg of Spirulina was administrated to 100 girls with age 11 to 13 years for 6 months and
significant improvement anthropometric measurements and hemoglobin, serum ferrtin, serum
zinc, serum protein and serum albumin levels was observed.
Children
Ramesh et al.
2013
Brazil
23 Wistar rats were given Spirulina based diet in malnutrition phase for 30 days and
significant nutrition recovery of animals was observed. The study proved that low Spirulina
percentage diet (Spirulina 8.8% + casein 5.0%) are better than high Spirulina percentage diet
(Spirulina 17.6% + casein 0.15% or Spirulina 26.4%).
Rats
Moreira et al.
2013
Zambia
60 children (18 to 36 months) were divided into two equal groups and one group was given
10 g Spirulina daily intake and other group without Spirulina intake were monitored for 9
months and the Spirulina treated children showed larger improvement in height for age Z
score.
Children
Masuda et al.
2014
India
200 adolescent girls (13-15 years):from Shimla were divided into equal groups and one group
was given 1 gram Spirulina + 40 grams wheat basan ladoo (an Indian recipe) for 6 days a
week for two months and other group was given placebo for the same period. The group with
Spirulina supplementation showed less prevalence of common ailments (paleness of skin,
conjunctiva, dental caries, fatigue) when compared with other group.
Children
Dewan 2014

J Nut Res (2015) 3(1): 62-79
69
Table 6: Various studies on micronutrients and role of Spirulina in human health
Micronutrient
Summary of Results
Subject
Country
Reference
Vitamin A
The experiments done on rats showed that the biological values of
alga were acceptable and also established in his work that dried
spirulnia contain more β-carotene (pro-vitamin A).
Rats
France
Clement et al. 1967
Spirulina (0 to 26.7%) was fed to male rats for 6 weeks. At low levels
of Spirulina feed (<2.7) and high level (>10.7%) caused reduction in
plasma, liver and heart α-tocopherol. Liver retinoid levels decreased
when fed with >10.7% and < 10.7 % there is in increase in retinoids.
Spirulina was found to significantly alter the storage and utilization of
Vitamin A.
Rats
USA
Mitchell et al. 1990
The absorption of β-carotene in Spirulina fed rats was found to be low
when compared with rats fed with synthetic β-carotene. Spirulina fed
rats have not shown dosage related increase in Vitamin A in liver and
serum but the vitamin A storage was found to be much higher than
expected.
Rats
India
Annapurna et al.
1991
The initial loss of beta-carotene on spray drying were between 7 to
10% and on storage in colored bottles containing air, more than 50%
loss was observed in <45 days. Flakes (>20 mesh size) retain 52% and
spray dried fine powder (100 mesh) retained 34%. The authors
recommended producing dry alga in the form of flakes or granules to
retain beta carotene. Sodium metabisulphite (0.1 to 1.0%) as an
antioxidant can be used to retard degradation rate of beta carotene.
The opened containers should be exhausted within 15 days of
purchase and minimum air/oxygen access is required to retain beta-
carotene.
Storage and
loss
India
Seshadri et al 1991
Spirulina based on β - carotene level (equivalent to 60 µg/d and 120
µg/d) was fed to vitamin A depleted rats for 10 days. The Spirulina
fed group showed better growth.
Rats
India
Kapoor and Mehta
1993
Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) (1000 ppm) was mixed with Spirulina
(0.0628% and 3.18%) and fed to male albino rats for 7 weeks. Growth
rate reduced but body weight increased at the end of seventh week.
The ameliorating effects of alga on the dietary toxicity of HCH in
retinol deficient albino rats were established.
Rats
India
Venkataraman et al.
1994
Spirulina (30 g/Kg) was fed to female shrimps with Pigment
Deficiency Syndrome (PDS) for 4 weeks and the study confirms that
the bioavailablity of carotenoids is high and inclusion in diet to is
recommended for shrimps with precluded carotenoid deficiency
related problems.
Shrimp
India
Regunathan and
Wesley 2006
In a group of well-nourished, normal-weight Chinese men following
low-vitamin A diets, 4.5 mg Spirulina β-carotene consumed with 22 g
fat has the same Vitamin A activity as does 1 mg retinyl acetate.
Human
China
Wang et al. 2008
Neuroprotective effects of a Spirulina 0.1% supplemented diet in the
G93A SOD1 mouse model of ALS beginning at 5 weeks of age and
continuing for 10 weeks. Spirulina dietary supplement significantly
maintained body weight and extension reflex, and reduced
inflammatory markers and motor neuron degeneration in G93A mice.
Rats
USA
Garbuzova-Davis
and Bickford 2010
Spirulina (2 grams and 4 grams) was fed to 228 children (6-11 years)
for 5 days per week for 10 weeks. The total body vitamin storage
increased significantly with a median increase of 0.160 mmol in the
children taking 2 grams and 0.279 mmol for children taking 4 grams
Spirulina.
Human
China
Li et al. 2012
Vitamin B
Complex
Spirulina produce non-cobalamin Vitamin B-12 analogues that are
unavailable to humans and even block Vitamin B-12 metabolism.
Human
USA
Herbert and Drivas
1982
The bioavailability of the Vitamin B-12 in children with B12
deficiency was checked by feeding them 0.1 to 2.7 mcg Vitamin B-
12/day (Algal equivalent) for 2 months. There is an increase in plasma
vitamin B-12 level but change in Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV)
is not significant suggesting that low bioavailablity of Vitamin B-12
from Spirulina.
Human
The
Netherlands
Dagnelie et al. 1991
No difference in body weight gain, relative liver, or relative kidney
weight could be found in male weaning Wistar rats fed with Spirulina
for four weeks. The rats were initially feed for 6 weeks, vitamin B-12
deficient diet. These data illustrate that cobalamins from algae are
indeed absorbed by the rat but distribution pattern over liver and
kidneys indicates that at least part of the cobalamins, measured by a
specific radioassay, may actually be analogues.
Rats
The
Netherlands
Van den Berg 1991
Vitamin E
Spirulina (1500 mg/kg/day) and Vitamin E (50mg/kg/day) was fed to
adult female albino rats of wistar strain weighting between 180 and
220 grams for 6 weeks. The lens soluble protein, glutathione and
water content profiles show the preventive role of Spirulina and
Vitamin E in naphthalene-induced cataract in rats.
Rats
India
Haque and Gilani
2005

70
J Nut Res (2015) 3(1): 62-79
Calcium
Novel sulfated polysaccharide (named calcium spirulan (Ca-SP)) alga
Spirulina platensis was extracted using hot water by bioactivity-
directed fractionation. The unique polysaccharide was composed of
rhamnose, ribose, mannose, fructose, galactose, xylose, glucose,
glucuronic acid, galacturonic acid, sulfate, and calcium. Ca-SP was
found to inhibit the replication of several enveloped viruses, including
Herpes simplex virus type 1, human cytomegalovirus, measles virus,
mumps virus, influenza A virus, and HIV-1.
Inhibitor
Japan
Hayashi et al. 1996
These results suggest that Ca-SP, a novel sulfated polysaccharide,
could reduce the lung metastasis of B16-BL6 melanoma cells, by
inhibiting the tumor invasion of basement membrane probably through
the prevention of the adhesion and migration of tumor cells to laminin
substrate and of the heparanase activity.
Inhibitor
Japan
Mishima et al. 1998
Ca-SP after further purification, found to contain rhamnose, 3-O-
methylrhamnose (acofriose):2,3-di-O-methylrhamnose, 3-O-
methylxylose, uronic acids, and sulfate. The backbone of Ca-SP
consisted of 1,3-linked rhamnose and 1,2-linked 3-O-methylrhamnose
units with some sulfate substitution at the 4-position. The polymer was
terminated at the nonreducing end by 2,3-di-O-methylrhamnose and 3-
O-methylxylose residues.
Inhibitor
Japan
Lee et al. 1998
Ca-SP at 20 μg/ml or less may retard the repair process of damaged
vascular endothelium through inhibition of vascular endothelial cell
proliferation by induction of a lower ability to respond to stimulation
by endogenous basic fibroblast growth factor.
Inhibitor
Japan
Kaji et al. 2002
Iron
Ingestion of daily dose of Spiruline (10 g) recommended for human
consumption by the commercial source would provide up to 1.5 to 2
mg absorbed iron.
Rats
USA
Johnson and
Shubert 1986
The absorption of iron from Spirulina was significantly lower than that
of ferrous sulphate and whole egg but significantly greater than that
from whole wheat.
Rats
India
Kapoor and Mehta
1992
Spirulina might promote the growth rate of Iron Deficiency Anemia
(IDA) rats and there was an repletion effect of Spirulina on IDA rats.
Rats
China
Jiangming et al.
1994
The pregnant and lactating rats fed with Spirulina + wheat gluten
(22% protein equivalent) showed significant higher iron storage and
hemoglobin content then casein + wheat gluten diet.
Rats
India
Kapoor and Mehta
1998
In vitro digestion/Caco-2 cell culture system was used to measure the
iron Spirulina availability. 6.5-fold increase in iron content using
Spirulina digest in comparison with meat was observed.
Iron
Availability
France
Puyfoulhoux et al.
2001
Spirulina (3 grams/day) is supplemented for 12 weeks to 40 people
with >50 years age both male and female. Increase in hemoglobin is
found after 12 weeks and increase in Complete cell count (CCC) and
indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) enzyme activity was observed.
Spirulina may ameliorate anemia and immunosenescence in older
subjects.
Human
(>50 years)
USA
Selmi et al. 2011
Iodine
Spirulina was grown in 10-8 to 10-4 g/l Potassium Iodide (KI) and 0.5
to 15 mg/L Selenious acid (H2SeO3) and bioaccumulation was
observed for pharmaceutical formulation purpose. The increase of
selenium and iodine accumulation is observed at maximum 13 mg/L
and 500 mg/L concentrations respectively and polynomial equation to
explain the accumulation was also developed. If iodine content in
medium is 500mg/L, then iodine concentration in biomass 2 mg/L,
total lyophilized biomass is 0.8 g/l and iodine enrichment coefficient is
0.4%.
Formulation
Russia
Mosulishvili et al.
2002
Magnesium
Mg-fortification of Spirulina does not improve Mg availability and
that crude spirulina represents an adequate source of Mg as efficient as
all bran and Banania.
Formulation
France
Planes et al 2002
Zinc
The highest bioenrichment of Spirulina platensis to Zn and Se were
371.2μg/g and 752.7μg/g under the concentration of 4mg/L Zn and
200mg/L Se was found and above that the growth speed changed.
Bio-
enrichment
China
Wang and
Songgang 1998
Spirulina extract (250 mg) plus zinc (2 mg) twice daily for 16 weeks
may be useful for the treatment of chronic arsenic poisoning with
melanosis and keratosis.
Human
Bangladesh
Misbahuddin et al.
2006
Selenium
Se-deficient rats were then repleted for 56 days with Se (75 µg/kg of
diet) supplied as sodium selenite and Selenium enriched spirulina. The
bioavailabilities of Se in retentate, as assessed by slope ratio analysis
using selenite as a reference Se, were 89 and 112% in the tissue Se
content and 106 - 133% in the glutathione peroxidase activities.
Rats
France
Cases et al. 2002
In vitro antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of selenium-
containing phycocyanin (Se-PC) purified from selenium-enriched
Spirulina platensis was investigated and the results indicated that Se-
PC exhibited stronger antioxidant activity than phycocyanin by
scavenging ABTS, DPPH, superoxide anion, and 2,2′-azobis-(2-
amidinopropane)dihydrochloride free radicals and have potential
applications in chemoprevention.
Bio-
enrichment
China
Chen and Wong
2009

J Nut Res (2015) 3(1): 62-79
71
industries are supported by State Science and Technology
Commission (SSTC) as a National Strategic Programme since
1986. The SSTC developed various technologies related to
medium optimization, downstream processing, practical use and
strain selection and there were approximately 80 factories in
China in 1997 cultivating about 106 m2 producing 400 tons
Spirulina powder per year (Li and Qi, 1997). Promotion of
Spirulina in five cultivation sites in Kenya was done by Harris
2010. A value added food products were developed by Vijayarani
et al. (2012) and Navacchi et al. (2012):India, Beheshtipour
(2013):Iran, Sharoba (2014):Egypt, Benahmed et al.
(2014):Algeria, Morsy et al. (2012):Arab League, and Van
Koolwijk (2014):Indonesia and social conversion by farmers
from traditional agro systems to Spirulina production was studied
in France (Stefanini 2015).
Spirulina proved to recover malnourished rats (Volatrelli and De
Mello 2008;Voltarelli 2011) and another study on malnourished
rats for 30 days, proved that low Spirulina diet (8.8%) is more
effective than high Spirulina diet (>17.6%). In one study,
Spirulina fed 5 g/day to malnourished children does not resulted
in any change in weight gain (Branger et al. 2003) (Table 5).
Spirulina was administered up to 90 g/day to under nourished
children at the Hôpital Bichat, France and in spite of heavy
dosage, absorption levels of proteins were found good (Santillan
1974). Spirulina was administered 2 to 3 grams per kg body
weight to 5 to 10 month‟s old children and observed that the
protein retention rate is high (Proteus Inc. 1975). 1.5 grams of
Spirulina mixed with 12 g baked barley sprout, vitamin B1 and
zinc recovered children from diarrhea and constipation (Miao
1987). Many such studies on children with protein energy
diseases (Bucaille 1990):malnutrition (Simpore et al.
2006):Vitamin A deficiency (Seshadri 1993):nutrition for healthy
children (Ramesh et al. 2013;Masuda et al. 2014;Dewan 2014)
were done along with special studies like using C13 stable isotope
along with Spirulina to understanding the kinetics of protein
breakdown (IAEA 1992). Still further studies on Spirulina are
required to establish the optimal concentration level for each
disease conditions and malnutrition. Various studies on
micronutrients and role of Spirulina in human body is listed in
Table 6.
According to IIMSAM (Intergovernmental Institution for the use
of Micro-algae Spirulina against Malnutrition):recognized by
United Nations (UN) and consultative observer of The United
Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC):UN, there are
178 million globally estimated stunned children. IIMSAM works
to promote the use of Spirulina against acute malnutrition and
global food security by promoting its mandate and collaborating
with various countries (H.E. Remigio M. Maradona 2008).
Since 1967, many researchers tried establishing Spirulina as a
major source of vitamin A with highest bioavailability of beta-
carotene in rats (Clement et al. 1967; Mitchell et al. 1990;
Annapurna et al. 1991; Kapoor and Mehta 1993; Venkataraman
et al. 1994; Garbuzova-Davis and Bickford 2010):humans
(Wang et al. 2008; Li et al. 2012) and aqua culture (Regunathan
and Wesley 2006). The studies on loss of beta-carotene during
storage, spray drying and other unit operations was done by
Seshadri et al (1991). The studies for increasing the productivity
of beta-carotene by changing the medium composition of
Spirulina were also done (Sujatha and Nagarajan 2013).
Based on their studies on bioavailability of Vitamin B12 in
humans (Herbert and Drivas (1982) and Dagnelie et al. (1991)) it
is suggested not to use it as a source of vitamin B12 for children
with B12 deficiencies as it contain non-cobalamin Vitamin B-12
analogues that are unavailable to humans. Similar results were
also supported by Van den Berg (1991). Studies on Vitamin K,
were not available and studies on Vitamin E are found to be less
(Haque and Gilani 2005; Mendiola et al. 2008). Calcium spirulan
(Ca-SP)) from Spirulina platensis was isolated in Japan in 1998
and since then enormous amount of research was done on it,
against various diseases including HIV, measles virus, mumps
virus, influenza A virus, and cancer (Hayashi et al. 1996;Mishima
et al. 1998; Lee et al. 1998; Kaji et al. 2002). Research on
Spirulina as a source of iron for healthy and anemic rats were
done since 1986 (Johnson and Shubert 1986; Kapoor and Mehta
1992; Jiangming et al. 1994; Kapoor and Mehta 1998;
Puyfoulhoux et al. 2001) and aged population in 2011 (Selmi et
al. 2011) and exact bioavailability values were also established
(Table 6).
Magnesium fortification of Spirulina does not improve the
magnesium bioavailability (Planes et al 2002) but further studies
on this area are required and bioenrichment of Spirulina with
high concentrations of iodine (Mosulishvili et al. 2002):zinc and
selenium (Wang and Songgang 1998) significantly improved the
mineral concentrations. Spirulina with zinc can be used for
treatment of chronic arsenic poisoning with meelanosis and
keratosis (Misbahuddin et al. 2006). The bioavailability values of
selenium were available in Table 6 (Cases et al. 2002). Purified
selenium from Spirulina can be used as strong antioxidant and
have potential applications in chemoprevention (Chen and Wong
2009). Large corporations are required to promote research on
Spirulina for establishing exact bioavailability values of
micronutrients so that Spirulina can be used for enteral nutrition
in malnourished patients. Overall, based on the above data,
Spirulina can be used as a source for alleviating hidden hunger or
micronutrient deficiencies in children but care should also be
taken while administrating Spirulina to the patients by referring
to Table 3.
Spirulina as an alternative feed for animals and aquaculture
Spirulina as an alternative feed for animals and aqua was reported
in Table 7. Cyanobacteria as a source of food for aqua culture
were established by Fox (1999). A system including Spirulina,
Artemia and mangrove fauna was used for producing tilapia,
small pelagic fishes, shrimp, and mollusks in artificial canals with
circulating filtered sea water. Spirulina was used as a feed for
poultry, pig, cattle and many other animals and aqua culture.
Various studies on Spirulina as an alternative feed for animals
and aquaculture were listed in Table 7.
After considering the listed facts in table 6, Spirulina can be fed
up to 10 % for poultry (Ross and Dominy 1990) and less than 4%
for Quail (Ross et al. 1994). Increase in the Spirulina content up
to 40g/kg for 16 d in 21 day old boiler male chicks, resulted in
yellow and red coloration of flesh and this may be due to the
accumulation of the yellow pigment, zeaxanthin (Toyomizu et al.
2001). Pigs (Nedeva et al. 2014):rabbits (Peiretti and Meineri
2008) and lambs (Holman et al. 2012) can receive up to 10% of
the feed and increase in the Spirulina content in cattle resulted in
increase in milk yield and weight (Stanley and Jones 1976;
Kulpys et al. 2009; Heidarpour et al 2011). Spirulina as an
alternative feedstock and immune booster for various types of
fish including big mouth buffalo, (Stanley and Jones 1976):milk
fish (Santiago et al. 1989):cultured striped jack (Shigeru et al.
1991):carp (Ayyappan 1992; Ramakrishnan et al. 2008):red sea
bream (Mustafa et al. 1994):tilapia (Olvera‐Novoa et al.

72
J Nut Res (2015) 3(1): 62-79
Table 7: Various studies on Spirulina as an alternative feed for animals and aquaculture for alleviating hunger and for providing food security
Country
Summary of Results
Subject
Reference
USA
Bigmouth buffalo Ictiobus cyprinellus (Valenciennes):was fed with 29 g dry weight per kg body
weight Spirulina for 28 days and an increase of 14 g/Kg body weight was observed.
Big mouth
buffalo
Stanley and
Jones (1976)
French
Polynesia
Spirulina (0 to 8 %) in pelletized form was fed to shrimps. The growth, survival and pigmentation
were considerably more when compared with single cell ingredient sources like lactic yeast.
Shrimp
Cuzon et al.
1981
The
Philippines
Wild milkfish fry (90/m2):were fed with Spirulina and formulated diet. The stocking rate was
92.5/m2 after 7 weeks and the Spirulina fed fish gave weight increment (0.881±0.140 g).
Milkfish
Santiago et al.
1989
USA
Spirulina (0 to 20%) was fed to poultry and found that day old chicks, after 3 weeks, the growth rate
reduced for 10% and 20% spirulina feed and >12% diet receiving Hubbard male boiler chicks after
41 days, a slight decrease in growth was observed but there is no significant difference due to the
Spirulina and concentration level up to 10% except increase in color of yolk and fertility rate.
Poultry
Ross and
Dominy 1990
Japan
The levels of carotenoids were increased by supplementation of S. maxima 5 to 10% diet to Cultured
striped Jack Caranx delicatissimus.
Cultured
Striped
Jack
Shigeru et al.
1991
India
10% Spirulina in basal diet improved specific growth rates and live weight
Carp
Ayyappan 1992
Japan
The red sea bream were fed with 2% Spirulina for 95 days and elevated protein assimulation and
increased stromal fraction was observed.
Red sea
bream
Mustafa et al.
1994
USA
There was a consistent increase in yolk color with increase in concentration from 0% to 4% of freeze
dried spirulina in quails fed for 8 weeks. Yolk color increased more in freeze-dried Spirulina when
compared with extruded Spirulina.
Quail
Ross et al.
1994
USA
Spirulina and its potential applications as an animal feed were reviewed.
Aqua
Culture
Belay et al.
1996
South
Africa
Juvenile Haliotis midae, Port Alfred, South Africa, were fed red alga (Pfocamium corallorhiza) for 3
months before the experiment. Spirulina based diet (19% protein) was fed for 124 days along with 4
other feeds (casein, fishmeal, soya oil cake and torula yeast). fishmeal and Spirulina spp. algae are
found to be most suitable proteins for inclusion in practical diets for H. midae.
Abalone
Britz 1996
México
Spirulina (20 to 100%) diet along with animal protein was given 6% of their body weight to tilapia in
a closed recirculating system. After a 9 week feeding period, the growth rate and protein utilization
increased in 20% and 40% spirulina diet. Further increase in Spirulina, decreased the growth.
Tilapia
Olvera‐Novoa
et al. 1998
Italy
40 crossbred rabbits were given Spirulina platensis (5% to 15%) for 24 days and found no obvious
health problems. The final weight gain and feed efficiency did not alter significantly but rabbits
receiving >10% spirulina showed highest feed intake.
Rabbits
Peiretti and
Meineri 2008
India
Spirulina maximus at 3% diet to common carp (Cyprinus carpio - 4.59±0.95 g) produced the specific
growth rate (1.27±0.02%/d):feed conversion ratio (0.71±0.08):and , protein efficiency ratio
1.96±0.03.
Carp
Ramakrishnan
et al. 2008
Lithuania
The Lithuanian black and white cows in their early lactation period were fed with 200 g of spirulina
per day for 90 days. The cow‟s receiving Spirulina became 8.5 to 11 % fatter and gave 34 kg milk
per day in the beginning of their lactation and it is found to be 6 kg more than those of the control
group.
Cow
Kulpys et al.
2009
Taiwan
White shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei):were given Spirulina (6 to 20 µg/g):which is earlier hot water
extracted and compared with normal spirulina (200 to 600 mg/L) for 24 to 96 hours. Shrimp that
received the hot-water extract of S. platensis had enhanced innate immunity and increased resistance
against V. alginolyticus infection.
Shrimp
Tayag et al
2010
Iran
Twenty four Holstein calves were given Spirulina platensis 0 g to 25 g per day for 57 days. The
results showed that treatment effect was not significant on the final weight, daily gain; daily feed
intake, feed efficiency and digestibility coefficient below 25 g. Increase in the level up to 25 grams,
decrease in digestibility in terms of crude protein, dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, and organic
matter were observed. However, reduction in plasma cholesterol, LDL, HDL concentration was
found and there is no effect on other blood parametters like BUN, albumin and globulin.
Holstein
calves
Heidarpour et
al 2011
Thailand
Spirulina (3% and 5%) was fed to African Sharptooth Catfish (Clarias gariepinus) with initial size
30.63-32.47 g for 60 days. The immunity (1.70 Units/mL) for 5% Spirulina feed was found to be
higher.
Catfish
Promya and
Chitmanat
2011
Turkey
Spirulina (0 to 10%) was fed to fish (3.75±0.02g) for 12 weeks. The specific growth rate, feed
intake, total egg production, hatching rate of eggs was found to be higher. The yellow and blue
coloration of the yellow tail cichlid and carotenoid in skin was enhanced.
Yellow tail
Güroy et al.
2012
Australia
24 weaned lambs (purebred Merino dams sired by Dorset, White Suffolk, Black Suffolk and
Merino rams lamb) weighing 37.5±5.2 kg, 42 days old were fed with 0 to 20 wt/vol Spirulina for 6
weeks. Lambs on Spirulina levels of 10% recorded the highest mean live weight of 41.9 ± 0.7 kg
and lambs with 20% did not significantly improve when compared to the control group (0%).
lamb
Holman et al.
2012
France
Spirulina platensis was given as a sole food for zebrafish broodstock, egg production was found to
be lower but survival rate (73%) was higher when compared with commercial feed (55%). No
difference in egg and larval weight and size was observed and the larval survival rate of 69% at 31
days post fertilization was observed. The spirulina based diet is recommended for zebrafish larvae in
the first few days of life.
Zebrafish
Geffroy 2013
Bangladesh
Studies were done on the growth performance, feed utilization and body composition of fiingerlings
of stinging cat fish and effect of spirulina.
Cat fish
Ali 2014
Bulgaria
48 Danube white pigs, weighing 12.15 to 12.471 kg were given 2 to 3 g per day for 47 days. The
weight increased to 30.9 to 33.9 kg and significant increase in growth intensity from 12.50% to
14.25% was observed. The number of erythrocytes and hemoglobin are 15% and 13 % higher in 3 g
fed pigs. There are relatively small number of sick animals (<2.40%) when compared with control
group (5.40%).
Pigs
Nedeva et al.
2014

J Nut Res (2015) 3(1): 62-79
73
1998):catfish (Promya and Chitmanat 2011; Ali 2014):yellow
tail (Güroy et al. 2012):Zebrafish (Geffroy 2013): and shrimps
(Cuzon et al. 1981; Tayag et al 2010) and Abalone (Britz 1996)
was established and up to 2% Spirulina per day in feed can be
safely recommended for fish, shrimps and abalone (Table 7).
Effect of Spirulina in combating against Protein Energy
Malnutrition (PEM) in patients with various chronic diseases
PEM in cancer patients
Protein calorie under nutrition is seen in advanced cancer patients
with loss of adipose tissue, visceral protein and skeletal muscle
varying unpredictably from patient to patient. Good nutrition may
increase the survival rate of the patients (Nixon et al. 1980).
Table 8 shows the list of clinical studies on Spirulina and its
benefits for alleviating protein energy malnutrition in cancer
patients.
Spirulina algae extract, when applied tropically for 3 times per
week for 28 weeks along with 0.1% 7,
12‐dimethylbenz[a]anthracene in mineral oil, removed tumors in
hamsters (Joel Schwartz 1988). This study promoted many
scientists to explore the antitumor immunotherapy potential of
Spirulina. Extensive studies including human trails (Babu et al
1995):cell lines (Konícková et al. 2014) and on rats (Zhang et al.
2001;Khan et al. 2005; Chamorro-Cevallos et al. 2008; Akao et
al. 2009 and Ismail et al. 2009) were done to prove the cancer
inhibitory properties of Spirulina.
PEM in HIV patients
After the discovery of calcium spirulan (Ca-Sp) by Hayashi et al.
(1996):extensive research has been done to inhibit the replication
of several enveloped viruses, including (human
immunodeficiency virus) HIV-1. Studies on peripheral blood
mononuclear cells (Ayehunie et al 1998) and humans (Simpore et
al 2005; Yamani et al. 2009; Azabji-Kenfack 2011) were done
along with structural modification studies on calcium spirulan
(Lee et al. 2001). Spirulina was fed up to 25 g/day to HIV
patients and considerable improvement in weight loss, anaemia,
karnofsky score, CD4 cell count was observed along with
decrease in the HIV viral load (Simpore et al 2005; Yamani et al.
2009;Azabji-Kenfack 2011) (Table 9).
Protein Energy Wasting
Protein energy wasting describes the increase of mechanisms
causing syndromes of wasting, malnutrition, inflammation, and
their interrelationships in individuals with chronic kidney disease
(CKD) or acute kidney injury (AKI) (Fouque et al. 2008). Studies
on abrupt loss of kidney function due to exposure to mercury to
the kidney and its failure in rats was studied by Fukino et al.
(1990). Spirulina was administered along with mercury to rats
which were alive up to 10 days, where the control group which
were fed only mercury died within 4 days. The study confirms the
protective effect of Spirulina against renal failures and reduction
of general renal dysfunctions. Extensive research was done on
Table 8: Various studies on Spirulina for nutrition rehabilitation patients suffering from cancer
Country
Summary of Results
Subject
Reference
USA
Spirulina algae extract along with 0.1% 7, 12‐dimethylbenz[a]anthracene in mineral oil when
applied tropically for 3 times per week for 28 weeks found to remove gross tumors in
Hamster. However, microscopic sections of the buccal pouch in the Spirulina fed group
showed localized areas of dysplasia and early carcinoma‐in‐situ undergoing destruction. β
carotene and mineral oil fed group of hamsters also showed considerable decrease in tumors.
Hamster
Joel Schwartz
1988
India
1g/day of Spirulina was fed to oral leukoplakia patients in Kerala, India and complete
regression of lesions was observed in 20 of 44 subjects supplemented and within one year of
discontinuing supplements, 9 out of 20 reponders within spirulina fed developed recurrent
lesions. Patients did not result in increased serum concentration of retinol or β‐carotene, nor
was it associated with toxicity.
Human
Babu et al 1995
China
Spirulina platensis (12, 30 an 60 mg/kg) was administrated for 21 days to mice and dogs,
which were damaged by injecting cyclophosphamie annd 60Co- irradiation. 30 and 60 mg/kg
increased the level of white cells in blood and nucleated cells and DNA in bone marrow but no
effect in red cells in mice but 12 mg/kg increased the level of red cells, white cells and
hemoglobin in blood and nucleated cells in bone marrow in dogs. Spirulina has chemo-
protective and radio protective capabilities.
Mice and
Dog
Zhang et al. 2001
India
Spirulina was administered orally for 3 days, twice daily for 7 weeks to mouse, which were
earlier treated with doxorubicin (DOX) for 4 weeks. In vitro cytotoxic studies using ovarian
cancer cells demonstrated that Spirulina did not compromise the anti tumor activity of
doxorubicin.
Mouse
Khan et al. 2005
México
Spiruina (0 to 800mg/kg body weight) was given to mice for 2 weeks. Protective effects of
spirulina in relation to cyclophosphamide -induced genetic damage to germ cells was found.
Mice
Chamorro-
Cevallos et al.
2008
Japan
Syngeneic tumor-implant mice (C57BL/6 versus B16 melanoma) were fed with spirulina to
elucidate the mechanism of raising antitumor NK (Natural Killer) activation. Orally
administered Spirulina enhances tumoricidal NK activation through the MyD88 pathway.
Spirulina and BCG–cell wall skeleton synergistically augmented IFN-γ production and
antitumor potential in the B16D8 versus C57BL/6 system. We infer from these results that NK
activation by Spirulina has some advantage in combinational use with BCG–cell wall skeleton
for developing adjuvant-based antitumor immunotherapy.
Mice
Akao et al. 2009
USA
Spirulina (1%) against dibutyl nitrosamine (DBN) precursors were studied on rats (120±5g).
The study indicates that the liver tumor was reduced from 80% to 20% by Spirulina.
Immunohistochemical results show that PCNA and p53 were reduced by spirulina
supplementation. Spiruilna inhibited cell prolifeation, increased p21 and decreased the
expression levels at 48 hrs post treatment.
Rat
Ismail et al. 2009
Czech
Republic
Spirulina inhibited the pancreatic cancer growth rate since the third day of treatment. Decrease
in the generation of mitochondrial ROS and glutathione redox status was observed.
Human
pancreatic
cancer cell
lines
Konícková et al.
2014

74
J Nut Res (2015) 3(1): 62-79
rats but very few studies were available on human population
(Table 10).
Stoilov et al. (1999) proposed the idea of using 5 to 30% protein
hydrolysate from Spirulina, fish and macroronus along with
natural bee honey can be used to patients with chronic renal
insufficiency. High Spirulina diet should be avoided for patients
with renal stone deposition problems (Farooq et al. 2005).
Renoprotective potential against Gentamicin (Kuhad et al.
2006):Cisplatin (Mohan et al. 2006):ethylene glycol (Al-Attar
2010):4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (Viswanadha et al.
2011):mercury (Rodríguez-Sánchez et al. 2012):deltamethrin
(Abdel-Daim et al. 2013) was established in rats and still human
trails are required to find the exact dosage of Spirulina. The
above summary of results, presented in the Table 9, from
various sources confirms that Spirulina can be used to combat
against protein energy wasting.
Conclusions
The present review had revealed that significant studies were
done on Spirulina to establish its potential use as a food
supplement, food additive, animal or aqua feed and to combat
against all forms of Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM) and
Protein Energy Wasting (PEW). But many studies are required on
human population to find the exact clinical dosage of this super
food to patients with different protein-calorie or renal disease
conditions. The above review also suggests to use Spirulina not
greater than 4 grams per day for normal healthy adults, <25
Table 10: Various studies on spirulina and protein energy wasting in renal problems
Country
Summary of Results
Subject
Reference
USA
Approximately 5 to 30% protein hydrolysate prepared from protein source Spirulina, fish, and
macroronus with 70 to 95% of natural bee honey can be used to patients with chronic renal
insufficiency or other protein metabolic disorders.
Human
Stoilov et al.
1999
India
Effect of urinary oxalate and uric acid level on high spirulina diet and risk of nephrolithiasis was
found by Spirulina (1500 mg/kg and 0;75% in drinking water) for 4 weeks. The crystal deposition
and damage in renal cells was observed. During hyperoxaluric conditions the Spirulina diet must
possibly be avoided and can be considered in normal subjects checked for family history of renal
stone deposition.
Rats
Farooq et al. 2005
India
Renoprotective potential of Spirulina (500 too 1500mg/Kg) against Gentamicin (100mg/kg) was
evaluated on rats. Treatment with Spirulina significantly restored renal functions, reduced lipid
peroxidation and enhanced reduced glutathione levels, superoxide dismutase and catalase
activities.
Rats
Kuhad et al. 2006
India
Spirulina (1,000 mg/kg) was administered orally for 8 days and Cisplatin treatment was given on
day 4 and Nephrotoxicity was assessed after 6 days. There is decrease in the levels of superoxide
dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase and increase in lipid peroxidation, plasma urea,
creatinine, urinary β-NAG, plasma and kidney tissue malondialdehyde. Spirulina significantly
protected the Cisplatin induced nephrotoxicity through its antioxidant properties.
Rats
Mohan et al. 2006
Saudi Arabia
Rats were fed with 0.75% ethylene glycol in drinking water for three weeks and after that they
were fed with Spirulina (20 mg/kg body weight) for another three weeks. The rats fed with
spirulina recovered from nephrolithiasis or renal stone disease and completely from hepatotoxicity
induced by ethylene glycol.
Rats
Al-Attar 2010
India
Oral pretreatment with Spirulina to rats, prevented 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide induced hepato and
nephrotoxicity. The antioxidant properties mediated by Spirulina in eliminating reactive free
radicals were established.
Rats
Viswanadha et al.
2011
Mexico
Phycobiliproteins and C-phycocyanin extracted from Spirulina were fed to rats with mercury (5
mg/Kg Intraperitoneal). All doses of phycobiliprotein and C-phycocyanin prevented enhancement
of oxidative markers and protected against mercuric cholirde caused cellular damage in the
kidneys.
Rats
Rodríguez-
Sánchez et al.
2012
Egypt
Hepatonephroprotective and antioxidant potential of Spirulina against deltamethrin toxicity in rats
was assessed. Spirulina normalized the elevated serum levels of AST, ALT, APL, uric acid, urea
and creatinine. Furthermore, it reduced deltamethrin-induced lipid peroxidation and oxidative
stress in a dose dependent manner.
Rats
Abdel-Daim et al.
2013
Table 9: Various studies on Spirulina for nutrition rehabilitation patients suffering from HIV patients
Country
Summary of Results
Subject
Reference
USA
Spirulina (0.3 to 1.2 µg/ml):reduced viral production by approximatly 50% in peripheral
blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Fractionation of the extract revealed antiviral activity in
the polysaccharide fraction and also in a fraction depleted of polysaccharides and tannins.
Peripheral
blood
mononuclear
cells (PBMC)
Ayehunie et al
1998
Japan
Calcium ion binding with the anionic part of the molecule was replaced with sodium and
potassium ion in Calcium Spirulan. The replacement of calcium ions with sodium and
potassium maintained the antiviral activity but divalent and trivalent metal ions decreased
the antiviral activity.
Structural
modification
Calcium
Spirulan
Lee et al. 2001
Italy
Spiurlina 15 to 25 g/day was fed to 84 children with HIV infection for 8 weeks and
compared with 86 undernourished children. Level of anaemia decreased during the study and
81.8% of undernourished children and 63.6% of HIV infected children were recuperated.
Spirulina can be effective for weight loss and anaemia for HIV and HIV negative
undernourished children.
Children
Simpore et al
2005
Central African
Republic
79 patients with HIV were given 10 grams of Spirulina per day for six months. No
difference was found in patients receiving Spirulina and the control group but there was an
increase in protidemia, creatinemia and Karnofsky score.
Human
Yamani et al.
2009
Cameroon
Food supplements, calculated as per 1.5 g/Kg body weight proteins and spirulina (25%) was
given to malnourished HIV infected adults with age 18 to 35 years for 12 weeks. HIV viral
load significantly decreased and increase in CD4 cell count was observed at the end of the
study.
Human
Azabji-Kenfack
2011

J Nut Res (2015) 3(1): 62-79
75
grams/day for HIV patients, <2 % for aqua culture and <10% for
poultry and animal feed. Exact dosage has to be developed for
cancer patients and patients with renal problems. Spirulina is not
recommended as a source of vitamin B12 for vitamin B12
deficiency children (Herbert and Drivas 1982;Dagnelie et al.
1991) and low dosage of Spirulina (5g/day) does not showed any
significant increase in weight in malnourished children (Branger
et al. 2003) and it is also not recommended for patients with
family history of renal stone depositions. Extensive studies on
Vitamin K, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B6,
improvement of cobalamin Vitamin B-12 in Spirulina strains
using genetic modification, clinical potential of calcium-spirulan
against HIV and other viral diseases, antitumor and
renoprotective properties of Spirulina on human population are
required for further understanding the clinical potential of
Spirulina to combat against PEM and PEW. Specific mechanisms
should be developed by industries to remove vitamin A, vitamin
K, vitamin B12, molybdenum and chromium to increase the
consumption level up to 100 grams of Spirulina per day.
Development of various Spirulina fortified foods are required to
create nutritional awareness and increase the acceptance level in
developing countries.
References
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Role of Spirulina platensis against Acute Deltamethrin-
Induced Toxicity in Rats. PLoS ONE 8(9):e72991.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0072991
Akao Y, Ebihara T, Masuda H, Saeki, Y, Akazawa T, Hazeki K,
Seya T (2009) Enhancement of antitumor natural killer cell
activation by orally administered Spirulina extract in mice.
Cancer Sci 100(8):1494-1501.
Al-Attar AM (2010) Antilithiatic influence of Spirulina on
ethylene glycol-induced nephrolithiasis in male rats. Am J
Biochem Biotechnol 6(1):25-31.
Ali M (2014) Evaluation of the effects of feed attractants
(Spirulina and ekangi) on growth performance, feed
utilization and body composition of fingerlings of stinging
cat fish, Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch, 1792) (Doctoral
dissertation)
Annapurna VV, Deosthale YG, Bamji MS (1991) Spirulina as a
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