Spirulina, an FDA-Approved Functional Food: Worth the Hype?

Spirulina, a blue-green microalga is an eminent functional food due to its unique nutritional and disease-mitigating properties. The main objective of this article is to present an overview of the nutritional composition of Spirulina. Along with its therapeutic potential and applications in the food industry. Studies included in this review have suggested spirulina to be a rich source of complete proteins, essential fatty acids (EFAs), vitamins, minerals and various bioactive compounds like carotenoids, chlorophyll, and xanthophylls. This makes Spirulina a promising functional food for the treatment of ailments like diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disorders (CVDs), COVID-19, neuroinflammatory conditions and gut dysbiosis. Additionally, data from numerous studies suggest its use in food formulations, primarily in sports supplements, bakery products, beverages, dairy products, snack sources and confectionaries. It has also been used by the National Aeronautics and Space Association (NASA) for astronauts on space missions to the Moon and Mars. Furthermore, spirulina's use as a natural food additive possesses enormous potential for further research. Owing to its high nutritional profile and disease-fighting potential, it lends itself to numerous food formulations. Therefore, based on the findings of previous studies, further progress can be made considering spirulina's application in the food additive industry.

A Systematic Review of Human Trials on Mycoprotein - Way towards a Sustainable Ecosystem.

Rapidly increasing global warming and world population calls for exploring untapped elements of biodiversity in a much broader sense. Though there exists much evidence on the importance of livestock and animal-derived protein, escalating challenges related to sustainability have led to finding alternatives to animal-derived proteins. Mycoprotein is an eco-friendly sustainable product.  This fungal-derived protein is high in fiber and protein content. For this particular review paper, literature was searched for human trials using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library. Fifteen trials, totaling 952 participants were included- 5 solely reported on cholesterol response, 3 for glycemic response and 2 for serum uric acid concentrations, while 4 studies reported the combined effect of health markers such as cholesterol, glycemic response, and uric acid concentrations and 1 study on gut health. The Jadad scale was used to assess the quality of studies. Five trails were identified to be of good quality scoring 3 or more. The results showed cholesterol lowering percentage to be ranging between 4.3 to 13%. Similarly, a significant increase of (+0.02) (P< 0.05) was observed in Lactobacillus spp from the baseline value following mycoprotein consumption. Results however were inconclusive for glucose and insulin response. Overall given the growing increase in sustainable proteins, this area should be explored further from a public health perspective.