Algae has unbelievable potential, this marine plant could be the super crop of our future. According to postdoc Johan Andersen Ranberg from the University of Copenhagen, algae has huge farming potential as it happily grows in enclosed systems within greenhouses. It grows faster than most others and requires only sun, CO2, and salt water.
The Danish scientists found out that algae have a fantastic potential as a crop. This plant can be a source of food, medicines, vitamins, even food colourants. 100% natural, just a dream! Nowadays, algae aren’t exploiting to its full potential. The postdoc Johan Andersen Ranberg is working on the developing the food colourings from algae.
“Development of biological food colourants is a major industry in Denmark and Danish companies are among the world’s leading manufacturers. At the moment, a large part of this production is by chemical synthesis so Danish companies have shown great interest in using microorganisms to replace the use of chemicals,”
says Johan Andersen Ranberg.
Algae grows very fast, needs just a little CO2 and sunlight, sometimes even doesn’t require fresh water, but thrive in saline conditions. Less drinking water, more result, such a fast growing crop is ideal for sustainable production.
Scandinavia countries are the pioneers in biotechnology and the transformation of microbes to produce a lot of substances that are commercially interesting. Algae as super-organism could be a source for producing medicines, vitamins, detergent enzymes, as well as proteins and food.
