 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
Growing More Good Oil From The Sea
Oil-rich marine microalgae are being assessed for their commercial potential under a new agreement between Clover, the CSIRO Food Futures Flagship, and the CRC for Bioproducts. "Microalgae are the natural omega-3 factories of the sea," flagship director Dr Bruce Lee says. "They can thrive in dark, organic-rich environments where they convert carbohydrates to beneficial oils that are passed up to fish through the marine food chain. "They may offer a renewable source of omega-3 oils for use in human and animal diets, depending on how well they adapt to life in large-scale culture facilities." The microalgae strains have been recently isolated by CSIRO and are to be evaluated by Clover Corporation. The strains are efficient producers of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) under laboratory conditions. These omega-3 oils are important in infant nutrition, and beneficial against a range of human disorders including coronary heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and hypertension. Clover Corporation is an established producer of nutraceuticals based on fish oils and is a leader in the microencapsulation of oils for use in 'functional' food products such as breads and dairy products. "We'll be evaluating the scale-up potential of microalgae in large-scale culture vessels," Clover director, Guy Drummond, says. "The market opportunity will be evaluated and a selected strain used to prepare samples at pilot-plant scale. "The challenge is to scale up the volume while maintaining their production efficiency and beneficial oil profile. This entails moving from laboratory-scale cultures of 100 millilitres to pilot-scale cultures of 10,000 litres." The oil profiles of the higher-volume microalgae cultures will be characterised at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research's laboratories in Hobart. Two applications of the microalgae are of interest: in the shorter term, as animal or aquaculture feed, and in the longer term, as a refined source of DHA oil for human consumption. The Federal Government through the National Food Innovation Strategy has provided a Food Innovation Grant to Clover Corporation of approximately $1 million to fund the project. Related Links CSIRO TerraDaily Search TerraDaily Subscribe To TerraDaily Express 
WFP Ends Food Aid To China Urges Asian Giant To Donate Globally
Beijing (AFP) Dec 16, 2005The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said Thursday its 26-year program of food aid to China will officially end this year, and called on Beijing to play a bigger role as a global donor.
|
|
| |||||||||
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service. |
