March | April 2013

The multifunctional dietary properties of spirulina and its use in aquaculture

The International magazine for the aquaculture feed industry

International Aquafeed is published six times a year by Perendale Publishers Ltd of the United Kingdom.All data is published in good faith, based on information received, and while every care is taken to prevent inaccuracies, the publishers accept no liability for any errors or omissions or for the consequences of action taken on the basis of information published. ©Copyright 2013 Perendale Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owner. Printed by Perendale Publishers Ltd. ISSN: 1464-0058

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In commercial andhigh stockingdensityculture practices, feeding plays a signifi-cant role in fast growthandhighyields.Aqua feed contains many ingredients

in highly balanced nutritious componentsfor enhancing the digestive mechanisms infish and shrimp bodies. It leads to betterbodyweightsandhealth,optimum immunityand greater survival rates. Spirulina is auniquehighqualitynaturaldietwithenrichedoptimumproteinforfishandshrimpwhichisproven to be a suitable supplementary feedinaquaculture.

Spirulina is a blue green algae like a spiralof long thin threadsunder genusArthrospira,thephylumOscillatoriaceae.Spirulina iscalledblue green algae (cynobacteria) because ofpresenceofbothgreen(chlorophyll)andblue(phycocyanin)pigmentsinitscellularstructure.ThetwospecieswhicharemostimportantfortheirnutritiousvaluesareSpirulinamaximaandSpirulinaplantensis.

Nutritional food valueTheuseof spirulina as com-

plementary feed in various sec-tors of aquaculture can resultin fast growth factors,enhancedpigmentationandbetterimmunesystems. It is considered as anexcellent food, lacking toxicityandhavingcorrectivepropertiesagainst the pathogenic micro-organisms. It lacks cellulose cellwallsandthereforedoesnotrequireschemicalsor processing in order to become digestible.Thedigestibilityis83–84percent.Spirulinaisregardedasarichsourceofprotein,vitamins,essentialmineral,aminoacids,EFFAlikegammaLNAandantioxidantpigmentslikecarotenoids.

Biochemical compositionProteinandaminoacids:Spirulinacontains

60-70 percent protein along with phenolic

acids, tocopherols, carotenes and linolenicacidsforwhichrepresentsanimportantstapleindiets.Theessentialaminoacidsarepresentaround47percentoftotalproteinweight.Thespectrumofaminoacidrepresentthatthebio-logicalvalueofproteinsinspirulinaisveryhigh.

Aminoacidandbiological functionof fishandshrimp• Isoleucine:Required foroptimal growth,

nitrogen equilibrium in the body. Usedto synthesize other non-essential aminoacids.

• Leucine:Increasesmuscularenergylevels.• Lysine: Building block of blood antibod-

ies strengthens circulatory system andmaintainsnormalgrowthofcells.

• Methionine:Vital lipotropic(fatand lipidmetabolizing) amino acid that maintainsliverhealth.Ananti-stressfactor.

• Phenylalanine:Stimulatesmetabolicrate.• Threonine: Improves intestinal compe-

tenceanddigestiveassimilation.• Tryptophane: Increases utilization of B

vitamins,improvesnervehealth.• Valine:Stimulatesmusclecoordination.

Carbohydrates: Spirulina contains about15-21 percent carbohydrates in the form ofglucose,fructose,sucrose,rhamnose,mannose,xylose and galactose. It provides the appro-priate and important foodstuffs for aquaticcultureanimalswithpoorintestinalabsorption.Carbohydratesoccur insufficientquantitiesofmesoinositol phosphate which is an excellent

sourceof organic phosphorus and inositol.Ahigh moleculatory weight polysaccharide arebelievedtohaveeffectonDNArepairmecha-nisms,immune-stimulatoryandimmunoregula-toryproperties.

Nucleic acids: Spirulina contains 2.2-3.5percentofRNAand0.6-1percentandDNA,whichrepresents lessthan5percentoftheseacidsbasedondryweight.

Essential fatty acids: Spirulina has a highamountofpolyunsaturatedfattyacids(PUFAs)and 1.5–2.0 percent of total lipid. Spirulinais rich in γ-linolenic acid (ALA), linoleic acid(LA),stearidonicacid(SDA),eicosapentaenoicacid(EPA),docosahexaenoicacid(DHA)andarachidonicacid(AA).

β-carotene and vitamins: Spirulina con-tains vitamin B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin),B3 (nicotinamide), B6 (pyridoxine), B9 (folicacid),B12(cyanocobalamin),vitaminC,vitaminD and vitamin E. The β-carotene, B-groupvitamin, vitamin E, iron, potassium and chlo-rophyll available in the spirulina can promote

themetabolismofcarbohydrate,fats, protein, alcohol, and thereproductionofskin,muscleandmucosa. Spirulina contains largeamounts of natural β-caroteneandthisβ-caroteneisconvertedintovitaminA.

Minerals: Spirulina is a richsource of potassium, and alsocontains calcium, chromium,copper, iron, magnesium, man-ganese, phosphorus, selenium,

sodium, zinc, molybdenum, chloride, germa-niumandboron.

Photosyntheticpigments:Spirulinacontainsmanypigmentsincludingchlorophylla,xantho-phyll,betacarotene,echinenone,myxoxantho-phyll, zeaxanthin, canthaxanthin, diatoxanthin,3-hydroxyechinenone, beta-cryptoxanthin,oscillaxanthin,plusthephycobiliproteins,c-phy-cocyaninandallophycocyanin.

Natural pigment enhancers: Phycocyanin

Table 1:

Physical properties General analysis

Composition 100% Protein 60-70%

appearance Fine powder Carbohydrate 15-25%

Colour Dark blue green Fats (lipids) 06-08%

odour & taste Mild like weed Minerals (ash) 07-13%

Digestibility 83-84% Moisture 03-17%

Particle size 64 mesh through Fibre 08-10%

The multifunctional dietary properties of spirulina and its use in aquacultureby Dr S V Pamulapati, chairman and managing director and Prakash Chandra Behera, technical manager (aqua), PVS Group, India

34 | InternAtIonAl AquAFeed | March-April 2013

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March-April 2013 | InternAtIonAl AquAFeed | 35

(blue):14percent,chlorophyll (green):1per-cent,carotenoids(orange/red):47percent.

Nutritional supplementary properties

Spirulina can be used as a partial supple-ment or complete replacement for proteinin aqua feeds. Spirulina is a feed supplementfor theall fishes, giant freshwaterprawnsandmarinewatershrimpsandsignificantlyimprove-ment occurs on growth, survival, immunity,viabilityandfeedutilization.Itisacheaperfeedingredientwithhigherproteinlevelsthanotheringredinetsofanimalorigin.

Feedingon spirulinahelps to improvedis-ease resistance and an improvement in their

survival rate.Fast growthoccurs whenfed a dietcontainingspirulina meal(Britz,1996).

Chelatingof toxic min-erals (neutrali-sationoftoxicminerals)

Spirulinahas a uniquequality todetoxify (neu-

tralise) or to chelate toxic minerals, and thischaracteristic is not yet noticed in any othermicroalgae (Maeda and Sakaguchi, 1990;OkamuraandAoyama,1994).Spirulinacanbeusedtodetoxifyarsenicfromwaterandfood.Italsomaybeusedtochelatizeordetoxifyorneutralizethepoisonouseffectofheavymetals(minerals)fromwater,foodandenvironment.Spirulina provides phycocyanin, a source ofbiliverdin,which isamongthemostpotentofallintra-cellularantioxidants.

Immunomodulatory propertiesSpirulina is an effective immune modula-

tor. Itexhibitsanti-inflammatoryproperties, inparticularbyinhibitingthereleaseofhistamine

frommastcellswithmediatedallergicreactions.Itshowsantioxidativeandfreeradicalscaveng-ingproperties.Spirulinaexposureenhancesthephagocyticfunctionsofmacrophagesinaquaticcultureanimals.

It also has antiviral and anti-carcinogenicproperties. It improves the bacterial gut tractclearancepotentialoffish/shrimpandspirulinasupplementsdevelopsthephagocyticcell.

Spirulina is a safe diet to use in terms ofimprovedimmunecompetencewithoutcom-promisingtheperformingbehaviorsofaquaticculture animals. A novel sulphate polysac-charide of spirulina inhibits the replication ofseveralenvelopedviruses.

Thenutrientsofspirulinahelptofightfreeradicals, cell-damagingmolecules absorbedbythe body through pollution, poor diet, injury,orstress.Byremoving freeradicals, thenutri-entshelptheimmunesystemfightcancerandcellular degeneration. Spirulina is a powerfultonic for the immune system.This enzyme isamajor sourceof super oxide in an animal’sbody,andisinvolvedindozensofdegenerativeprocesses involved indisease resistance,agingandsimilarprocessesinfish,shrimpandotheraquaticanimals.

Spirulina in building red blood cells and stem cells

Spirulinaisrichinabrilliantbluepolypep-tide called Phycocyanin. Phycocyanin

Table 2:

amino acid Per 10 gm % of total amino acid Per 10 gm % of total

Isoleucine 350mg 5.6 Cystine 60mg 1.0

leucine 540mg 8.7 arginine 430mg 6.9

lycine 290mg 4.7 Histidine 100mg 1.6

Phenylalanine 280mg 4.6 threonine 320mg 5.2

tyrosine 300mg 4.8 Proline 270mg 4.3

Methionine 140mg 2.3 Valine 400mg 6.5

Glutamic acid 910mg 14.6 alanine 470mg 7.6

aspartic acid 610mg 9.8 Glycine 320mg 5.2

tryptophan 90mg 1.5 Serine 320mg 5.2

34 | InternAtIonAl AquAFeed | March-April 2013 March-April 2013 | InternAtIonAl AquAFeed | 35

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affects the stem cells that make up thecellular immune system and red bloodcellsthatoxygenatethebody.Phycocyaninstimulating hematopoiesis, (the creationofblood),emulatingtheaffectofthehor-mone erythropoetin, (EPO). Phycocyaninalso regulates production of white bloodcells, even when bone marrow stem cellsare damaged by toxic chemicals or radia-tion.

Spirulina anti-viral and anti-cancer abilities

Calcium-Spirulan is a unique polymer-ized sugar molecule extract of spirulina andcontaining both sulphur and calcium. Thetreatment of this water-soluble extract hasbetter recovery rates when infected with alethal Herpes virus. This mechanism occursbecauseCalcium-Spirulandoesnotallowthevirustopenetratethecellmembranetoinfectthecell.Thevirusisstuck,unabletoreplicate.Itiseventuallyeliminatedbythebody'snatu-ral defenses. Spirulina can prevent or inhibitcancers in aquatic animals, and fishes. Theunique polysaccharides of spirulina enhancecellnucleusenzymeactivityandDNArepairsynthesis.

Antimicrobial propertiesSpirulina excretes variable quantities of

products from itsmetabolismsuchasorganicacid,vitaminsandphytohormones.Cellextractof spirulina has shown antimicrobial activitiesagainstpathogenicbacteriaas likeBacillus sps,Streptococcussps,Saccharomycesspsetc.

Bio-mineralisation activitiesSpirulina thrives in high alkaline waters

and it incorporates and synthesizes manyminerals and derivative compounds intoits cell structure. Transformed into naturalorganic formsbyspirulina,mineralsbecomechelated with amino acids and they aremore easily assimilated by the body. Alongwith adequate calcium and magnesium inthewater (especially formarineorganisms),Spirulina helps insure proper electrolytefunction, calcium levels over calcium andothermineral.

Enhancing reproduction Researchhasshownthatfreshandsaltwa-

ter fish and shrimp exhibit superior growth,maturity,energeticbehavior,andmoreelegantcoloring when fed spirulina. It is also welldocumentedthatspirulinaimprovesspawning,fecundity, fertility andhatching rates. It stimu-lates the reproductive processes, increasessurvival ratesof younger fish, post larvae andpromotes the appetite of fish or prawn toattainfullmaturity.

Spirulina as a colourantThecolourappearanceisthemostimpor-

tant characteristic in shrimp and fish forchoice and demand in the food market. Adiet containing spirulinapromotes thephysi-ological activities for generating colour pig-mentationsandglazingappearanceinvariousparts of body. Carotenoids are responsiblefor the development of various colours ofcrustaceans(Brittonet al.,1981).Astaxanthinhasbeenshowntobethepredominantcaro-tenoid associated with the red body colourof the black tiger prawn Penaeus monodon(HowellandMatthews,1991).Spirulinaplat-ensis and pacifica stain contains the highestlevels of β-carotene and zeaxanthin of anynatural source. They both are converted toastaxanthin through anoxidativeprocess forthedesireredpigment.Amarkedincreaseincarotenoid content of the carapace of blacktiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) occurredwhenspirulina-supplementeddietsaregiven.A practical strategy for the improved pig-mentation of cultured P. monodon is theincorporationofspirulinadietforonemonthbeforeharvest.

Conclusions Spirulina appears to have considerable

potentialfordevelopment,especiallyasasmall-scalecropfornutritionalenhancement,livelihooddevelopment and environmental mitigation.Asnaturalfeed,spirulinacanplayanimportantroleinaquaculture,especiallyinaquaticfarmingandhatcherieswheretheresultsarequitesignificant.Ifspirulinafeedsfurtherimprove, itseffectswillbemoreobviousandtheprospectsofspirulinawillbeverybright. ■

References:Banerjee,M.&Deb,M.1996.PotentialofflyashandSpirulinacombinationasaslowreleasefertilizerforricefield.CientificaJaboticabal,24:55–62.

Borowitzka,M.A.1988.Vitaminsandfinechemicalsfrommicro-algae.InM.A.Borowitzka&LBorowitzka,eds.Micro-algalBiotechnology,pp.153–196.Cambridge,CambridgeUniversityPress.ofMalaya.

Britz,P.J.1996.ThesuitabilityofselectedproteinsourcesforinclusioninformulateddietsfortheSouthAfricanabalone,Haliotismidae.Aquaculture,140:63–73.

Gauthamkolluri&RAshaRajani,Feedingofspirilina-ABoosttothePoultryProduction,Poultrymagazine,Oct-12Pageno31-33

Lu,J.&Takeuchi,T.2004.Spawningandeggqualityofthetilapia,OreochromisniloticusfedsolelyonrawSpirulinaplatensisthroughoutthreegenerations.Aquaculture,234:625–640.

Maeda,S.&Sakaguchi,T.1990.Accumulationanddetoxificationoftoxicmetalelementsbyalgae.IntroductiontoAppl.Phycol.,109–136.

Nakagawa,H.,Gomez-Diaz,G.1975.UsefulnessofSpirulinasp.mealasfeedadditiveforgiantfreshwaterprawn,Macrobrachiumrosenbergii.Suisanzoshuku,43:521–526

Okamura,H.&Aoyama,I.1994.Interactivetoxiceffectanddistributionofheavymetalsinphytoplankton.Toxicol.&WaterQuality,9:7–15.

Paoletti,C.,Pushparaj,B.&Tomaselli,L.F.1975.RicerchesullanutrizionemineralediSpirulinaplatensis.AttiXVIICongr.NazMicrobiol.,2:833–839.

Ruan,J.S.,Long,C.S.&Guo,B.J.1988.Spirulinapreventeddamageinducedbyradiation.J.Genetics,10:27–30.(InChinese).

ShabirAhmad,M.ashrafKhan,NajarA.M&MansoorAhmedSpirulina-Nutritionalresearch,AquaInternational,Feb-10,page22-27

Stott,A.E.,Takeuchi,T.&Koike,Y.2004.Performanceofanewartificialabalonehatcheryculturesystemintermsofsettlementoflarvaeandgrowthandsurvivalofpost-larvaeHaliotisdiscuss(Reeve).Fish.Sci.,70:1070–1081.

Tompkins,J.,DeVille,M.M.,Day,J.G.&Turner,M.F.1995.CultureCollectionofAlgaeandProtozoa.CatalogueofStrains.NaturalEnvironmentResearchCouncil.Kendal,UK,TituWilsonandSonsLtd.

Venkataraman,L.V.,Somasekaran,T.&Becker,E.W.1994.Replacementvalueofblue-greenalga(Spirulinaplatensis)forfishmealandavitamin-mineralpremixforbroilerchicks.BritishPoultrySci.,3:373–381.

Vonshak,A.&Richmond,A.1988.Massproductionoftheblue-greenalgaSpirulina:anoverview.Biomass,15:233–247.

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