A fantastic voyage since the origins of time

Spirulina is the immortal descendent of the first photosynthetic life-form. 3.5 billion years ago, blue-green algae began to provide oxygen and modified the atmosphere so that other life could evolve. Since then, algae have helped regulate our planet’s biosphere.

When life began 3.6 billon years ago, Earth’s nitrogen atmosphere, without any oxygen, was rich in greenhouse gases (like carbon dioxide and methane), the oceans were filled with iron, sulfur and other compounds.

The first living bacteria consumed chemical nutrients as food, some started to adapt the energy of the sun to make their own food. The first photosynthesizing prokaryotes called cyanobacteria or blue-green algae, used light energy to break apart the abundant carbon dioxide and water molecules into carbon food-compounds, releasing free oxygen.

After a billion years,  the oxygen absorbing compounds in the oceans were used up, and the atmospheric concentration of oxygen increased rapidly.

About 1.5 billion years ago, a new period began when oxygen may have reached a 1% level, and methane (a greenhouse gas) disappeared from the atmosphere. At this time cells with nuclei appeared. This more powerful and complex life-form (eukaryotes) was able to survive as a result of the higher concentration of oxygen.
About 600 million years ago, Earth entered the present phase with the evolution of large plants and animals, with an oxygen concentration of around 20 %.

The algae always were, and still remain, the main source of oxygen production. It is estimated that 70% of the total free oxygen on our planet is produced by algae.

Globally there are more than 25,000 species of algae. They represent two-thirds of the Earth’s biomass, and are now being recognised as an important source for food, and for making pharmaceutical, biochemical, and fertilizer products. Algae represent one of the solutions we need to produce food and simultaneously safeguard the environment.

Cyanobacteria or blue-green algae still cover land and surface water , and form part of the living mechanism for regulating the planet’s biosphere. They are the most primitive microalgae, and contain no nucleus or chloroplast. Their cell walls do not contain cellulose, and they do not sexually reproduce; they simply divide. The dead algae free nutrients, permitting the growth of new algae, as well as other life-forms.

Spirulina is one of the 1,500 species of cyanobacteria, which is a helicoidally multicellular filament, 100 to 300 µm long. It is classified as Arthrospira platensis.