SPIRULINA
HISTORY
The world great discovery
The story of Spirulina was revealed to public through a great discovery
of some scientists who unexpectedly found that the way of life of
one African tribe was interesting. Even though those villagers were
living in a poor area and had less chance to consume protein from
meat, they could still live healthily on "Dihe", a common
type of algae grown around the lake in that area. This algae, which
later called " Spirulina", was usually brought from the
surface of that lake and later dried in the heat. Through its simple
characteristic, Spirulina was amazingly believed to have contained
a variety of high quality nutrients.
And that has
become the great discovery of food product for the future.
Although having
a long history, Spirulina has just become well-known in our industrial
world for the past 30 years.
According
to the study of Prof. Hiroshi Nagamura from Internal Medicine Department,
Tokai University, Japan, it can be concluded that Gamma Linolenic
Acid (GLA) from Spirulina can help to lower cholesterol levels in
blood 170 times than that of Linolenic found in oil (fat) from plants.
Moreover, the research reported that vitamins and minerals in Spirulina
can be absorbed into blood stream 4-6 times than that of Iron found
in meat.
In Thailand, it is believed that Ms.Jeamjit Boonsom,
an academic researcher from the Institute of National Fresh Water
Fisheries, Department of Fisheries, first discovered GD-1 Spirulina
in 1996. It was, however, studied officially in 1983 as an FAO's cooperation
project entitled "Development of Microalgae (Spirulina) Production
of Thailand."
Spirulina
is claimed to have very high protein at the level of 60-70%. Besides,
it also contains rich concentration of vitamins such as Vitamin A,
B1, B2, B6, B12, C, E and H, Folic Acid and Nicotinic Acid. In addition,
Spirulina contains 250% more B12 than that of liver, so it is the
world's highest source of Vitamin B12. Beta - Carotene which is Pro-Vitamin
A found in it is 20-25 times more than that of Carrots. There are
also several minerals such as Iron, Magnesium, Calcium and Potassium
found here. Iron is 3 times more than that of a piece of steak. Interestingly,
Spirulina has perfect 18 amino acids which is essential components
of human cells. It is also the source of Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA),
a fatty acid. (Nutrition facts)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has
announced Spirulina to be "The Best Food for Tomorrow"
As mentioned
in the research, Spirulina GD1 is the only strain found in Thailand
and after has been improving the quality, it is approved by many countries
to have had high variety of nutrients. This success has emerged the
Thai researchers to study about Spirulina more seriously to promote
it " the food for population in the future "
Ms.Jeamjit
Boonsom, who started this project, has given it a name under the trademark
registration as "Kreawthong" in 1994.
However, Thailand
now has only introduced this alga as a supplemental health food. It
is believed that Spirulina will be applied to use widely as medicine,
and the best species will be selected and studied to create a suitable
food source and medication for humans of all ages in the future.
800 before
B.E.
There was a remain identified that Aztecs in Central America had brought
this algae from Lake Texcoco.
500 before
B.E.
The Kanam Kingdom of Africa used the same type of algae from Lake
Chad as their food product.
A.D. 1844
Nordstedf had described its characteristic and named it as "Spirulina
Jenneri Platensis"
A.D. 1940
Dangcard wrote an article about it and published in Linnean Society
of Bordeux.
A.D. 1962
Dr.Clement from France discovered that Lake Chad in Africa was the
plentiful source of the algae.
A.D. 1966
(1) Ms. Jeamjit Boonsom discovered the same algae from the samples
of water collected from Ubonrat Dam, Khon Kaen, Thailand.
(2) Leonard,
one of the Belgium explorer working in the Trans-Saharan Expedition
project in the African Continent , wrote an article on how people
living around Lake Chad used this algae as their food supply.
A.D. 1967
Prof.Hiroshi Nagamura had started Spirulina research in Japan.
A.D. 1973
The story of Spirulina had been mentioned in the International Protein
of Microorganism Conference
A.D. 1974
This alga was stated by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO) to be " The Best Food for Tomorrow."
A.D. 1980
The book called " Secret of Spirulina Medical Discoveries of
Japanese Doctor " was first published in America.
A.D. 1981
(1) FAO had approved that Spirulina was an excellent nutrients supplement.
(2) Mr.Tan,
the former FAO's specialist in Thailand had given the book "
Secret of Spirulina" to Ms. Jeamjit Boonsom and suggested her
to continue doing the research in this topic.
A.D. 1983
(1) Ms.Jeamjit Boonson had received a research scholarship from FAO
to study Spirulina under the project entitled " Development of
Microalgae ( Spirulina) Production of Thailand"
(2) Spirilina
was announced to have received the Best Natural Food Award from West
Germany's International Food Expo.
A.D. 1985
(1) Ms. Jeamjit Boonsom had cooperated with a researcher from Israel,
David Ben Gurion, under the sponsorship of the Foreign Administrative
Organization of America, to study and search for the new creation
of Spirulina's species.
(2) Ms. Jeamjit Boonsom had given Spirulina a Thai name "Kleawthong"
A.D. 1988
" The Secret of Spirulina Medical Discoveries of Japanese Doctor
" was translated into Thai by Ms.Jeamjit Boonsom, and published
by the Department of National Research Committee.
A.D. 1989
Ms.Jeamjit Boonsom, with the cooperation of the researchers from Kasetsart
University and Mahidol University, had received a research scholarship
from the Chulabhorn Research Institute to study on Nutritional Value
of Thai Strain Spirulina.
A.D. 1992
Green Diamond co., Ltd. was the first Thai GD1 Kleawthong's manufacturer
and distribution company registered for trading; it is also officially
approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
