Nitrogen Balance and Bioavailability of Amino Acids in Spirulina Diet-Fed Wistar Rats

Abstract

Spirulina widely known to consumers as a health food is mainly a dried product. Since data for raw spirulina as a protein source are insufficient, the nutritional values of dry and raw spirulina diets in Wistar rats were determined. Digestibility coefficients were significantly lower in the dry (84.1 ± 0.5%) and raw (85.7 ± 0.4%) spirulina diets than that in the casein diet (96.6 ± 0.2%), although biological values of dry (86.3 ± 1.3%) and raw (77.9 ± 2.6%) spirulina diets were significantly higher than that of the casein diet (71.9 ± 2.5%). The protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score of raw spirulina (86.6 ± 0.5%) was significantly higher than that of dry spirulina (85.1 ± 0.5%). Additionally, amino acid profiling of portal/venous blood in spirulina diet-fed rats revealed that Ala, Gly, Val, and Leu/Ile were markedly decreased after systemic circulation. These results suggest that dry and raw spirulina diets may be effective not only as a protein source but also as a supplement to support protein/amino acid bioavailability.

Dunaliella viridis TAV01: A Halotolerant, Protein-Rich Microalga from the Algarve Coast

“…Nevertheless, the total EAA content of D. viridis TAV01 was 65% higher than the minimum amount recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO): 27.1 g 100 g −1 [67]. Also, spirulina [65], one of the algae displaying consistently high protein contents, shows lower EAA values (42.51 g 100 g −1 ) than those of D. viridis TAV01 (44.88 g 100 g −1 ). Furthermore, when compared to those of D. tertiolecta (34.78 g 100 g −1 ) [63], D. salina (33.05 g 100 g −1 ) [64], Chlorella sp.…”