Spirulina - The food of the future


 "It was not a coincidence, it was my duty to take up the spirulina project", says Hendrik, the founder of Aurospirul

 

Have you tried the fresh, nutritious spirulina juice containing lemon, amla, ginger and jaggery in it? Workers in Aurospirul don't like spirulina in their lunch. If it is sprinked on sambhar, they don't like green sambhar, they prefer yellow sambhar. Hendrik who has been running Aurospirul for the last 25 years says "Spirulina juice is liked by all. The workers here enjoy it." Hendrik stresses on the fact that if there is a spirulina project, people cultivating it should also consume it in one way or another.

 

Some people say that spirulina smells like a fish but Hendrik says it is the other way round, "Fish smells like an algae. We are what we eat. The fish eats an algae that is why it smells like an algae." Spirulina is the oldest 'plant life' on earth. It is the link between the bacterial life and the plant life. It is the form of the first plant life in the evolution of the planet earth.

 

Hendrik considers it to be his mission to look at the tanks each day. For spirulina production, he says the two elements play a crucial role. One, the project holder should have it in his DNA to cultivate spirulina as it is a sensitive process. After its harvest it should be dried completely. People working on the project should feel connected and identify themselves with their work. Hendrik says, "The workers working in Aurospirul have been here for years. They know better than me. They work everyday so they discover the tricks. I listen to their feedback towards the work as I consider it to be extremely essential." Second element that plays a crucial role is the marketing. Aurospirul is probably the only unit in Auroville which sells its production directly to its consumers without any intermediary.

 

"Spirulina is in high demand in Auroville," claims Hendrik. It is the food of the future and Auroville is the city of the future. Spirulina is popularly known as the 'astronaut food' since it is light in nature and highly nutritious. It requires less water and less land to be cultivated. Aurospirul uses a small water pump and no generator for the production of spirulina. A study by NASA showed that one Kilogram of spirulina is equivalent to one thousand kilograms of assorted fruits and vegetables. Windarra Spirulina Farm produces 15 kilograms of spirulina per day.

 

 The main difference between the organically produced and the industrial produced spirulina is in a way in which it is dried. The organically produced spirulina is sun- dried. Hendrik says, "This is the best as it sustains its energy; the cell structures remain intact. It is like the way fishermen dry the fishes at the beach. After spirulina is dried in sun, it is dried in 65 degrees of hot air. This is the first step of the production where the electricity is used." The industrially produced spirulina is spray dried at extreme very high temperature in few seconds. This dehydration process is similar to how milk is converted to milk powder.

 

One can question how about using a solar dryer to dry spirulina? Near Marakkanam, Tamil Nadu, an NGO had a solar dryer which could contain about five trays for drying fishes. But it was impractical to use it as they had thousands of fishes and each tray of the dryer had the space for only around fifty fishes. So the solar dryer was not functional and was left totally abandoned, but as Hendrik laughingly reacted, "One person had dried fishes on top of the solar dryer."

 

Aurospirul has been serving Auroville for 25 years now. Hendrik says, "It was not a coincidence, it was my duty to take up the spirulina project. I grow spirulina because of Auroville, it is not that Auroville has spirulina because of me. From the beginning the unit got all the support from Auroville. All things always arrived at the right time. We could therefore have a smooth run."

 

 

 

For the reference:

https://youtu.be/LtG_9XeAzPY

 

 

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