Spirulina (Arthrospira) industry in Inner Mongolia of China: current status and prospects

Journal of Applied Phycology, Apr 2011

This paper outlines an investigation on current situation of Spirulina (Arthrospira) industry in Inner Mongolia, an internal region of China with temperate continental climate. More than 20 Spirulina plants have been established in Inner Mongolia since 2001, most of which are located at Wulan Town in the Ordos Plateau. By the end of 2009, the total annual production of Spirulina in the Ordos Plateau surpassed 700 t (dw), which account for ca. 80% of the total productivity of Inner Mongolia, and ca. 20% of China. Besides abundant solar radiation and enough freshwater favorable for Spirulina production, the three technical strategies contribute to the prosperity and success of Spirulina industry in the region: (1) reducing the cost or investment by overall advantages of rich local natural resources with low cost for Spirulina production, such as alkaline lakes, coal, electricity, and sandy land; (2) controlling the culture temperature and to avoid contamination by building plastic greenhouses on raceway ponds, (3) reducing investment by simplifying the construction of the ponds and the greenhouses. As the result, the growth period of Spirulina has been prolonged from about 120 to about 165 days, the cost of Spirulina has decreased by 25–30%, and the quality of products has been enhanced substantially. Inner Mongolia is expected to become the largest base for Spirulina production not only in China, but also in the world in the near future.

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Spirulina (Arthrospira) industry in Inner Mongolia of China: current status and prospects

Yun-Ming Lu 0 Wen-Zhou Xiang 0 Yong-Huang Wen 0 0 This paper was presented at the 7th Asia Pacific Congress on Algal Biotechnology , New Delhi 2009 1 ) South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Guangzhou 510301, China This paper outlines an investigation on current situation of Spirulina (Arthrospira) industry in Inner Mongolia, an internal region of China with temperate continental climate. More than 20 Spirulina plants have been established in Inner Mongolia since 2001, most of which are located at Wulan Town in the Ordos Plateau. By the end of 2009, the total annual production of Spirulina in the Ordos Plateau surpassed 700 t (dw), which account for ca. 80% of the total productivity of Inner Mongolia, and ca. 20% of China. Besides abundant solar radiation and enough freshwater favorable for Spirulina production, the three technical strategies contribute to the prosperity and success of Spirulina industry in the region: (1) reducing the cost or investment by overall advantages of rich local natural resources with low cost for Spirulina production, such as alkaline lakes, coal, electricity, and sandy land; (2) controlling the culture temperature and to avoid contamination by building plastic greenhouses on raceway ponds, (3) reducing investment by simplifying the construction of the ponds and the greenhouses. As the result, the growth period of Spirulina has been prolonged from about 120 to about 165 days, the cost of Spirulina has decreased by 2530%, and the quality of products has been enhanced substantially. Inner Mongolia is expected to become the largest base for Spirulina production not only in China, but also in the world in the near future. - Spirulina (Arthrospira), a blue-green alga containing unusual high amounts of balanced proteins and a wide range of abundant nutraceuticals, is one of the most promising microalgae in the market since the success of its commercial production in open raceway ponds in the 1980s (Voushak and Richmond 1988). Spirulina cultivation plants have sprung up in China since the early 1990s. By the mid 1990s, China has become the biggest country in Spirulina production in the world (Li and Qi 1997; Wu et al. 1998). Total production of Spirulina in China was about 2,500 t (dw) in 2006 (Hu 2007). According to our observation and investigation, up to 2009, 3,500 t (dw) of Spirulina have been produced. Inner Mongolia has a mid temperate climate with an annual average temperature of 6.4C which greatly limits the growth of Spirulina (Qiao et al. 2001). Although there were several reports examining the feasibility of industrial production of Spirulina in temperate climates earlier (Jimnez et al. 2003), most Spirulina plants at present are located at tropical and sub-tropic area in the world since Spirulina is thermophilic with optimal growth temperature between 35 and 38C (Li and Qi 1997; Belay 1997; Wu et al. 1998). Consequently, it is of significance that large-scale commercial production in Inner Mongolia has been achieved. This paper analyses how the Spirulina industry was established successfully in Inner Mongolia, and discusses the prospects of local Spirulina industry. Suggestions for sustainable development of commercial production of Spirulina in this region in the future are made. History and present status Local species of Spirulina were discovered in alkaline lakes in the Ordos Plateau of Inner Mongolia in 1995, and at least three species, including Spirulina (Arthrospira) platensis and two other novel species of Arthrospira were discovered and isolated (Li et al. 2003; Hu 2007). In 1997, a pilot-scale experiment was conducted to probe the feasibility of commercial production of local Spirulina species in Inner Mongolia (Qiao et al. 2001), but no further progress was reported. In 2001, the first commercial Spirulina plant with open raceway ponds was established in Ordos Plateau (Hu 2007). In the early stage (20012003) of Spirulina production in Ordos Plateau, the culture in open raceway ponds was affected by the low temperatures and sand storm which resulted in low quality and productivity of products. The majority of Spirulina produced in this stage was sold with low profit as low-grade animal feeds. Because of the technical improvement in Spirulina production after 2003, the total annual production of Spirulina increased rapidly. The total annual production of Spirulina, as well as total ponds area in Ordos in the past 4 years is presented in Fig. 1. The major manufacture plants in Ordos City and their production data in 2008 are listed in Table 1. It shows that the productivity of Spirulina in Ordos during production period is close to or even higher than that of sub-tropic or tropic areas in China (Li et al. 2003; Wu et al. 1998). Fig. 1 Total annual production of Spirulina and total pond area in the last 4 years in Ordos city Up to now, more than 20 companies have produced Spirulina in different areas of Inner Mongolia, incl (...truncated)


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Yun-Ming Lu, Wen-Zhou Xiang, Yong-Huang Wen. Spirulina (Arthrospira) industry in Inner Mongolia of China: current status and prospects, Journal of Applied Phycology, 2011, pp. 265-269, Volume 23, Issue 2, DOI: 10.1007/s10811-010-9552-4