CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND APPLICABILITY AS FOOD AND FEED OF MASS-CULTURED UNICELLULAR ALGAE.

Abstract

Feeding experiments were performed with pigs, rats, and mice, the first of which were the largest animals thus far tested with Chlorella-containing diets. The addition (in concentration of 2%) of freeze-dried Chlorella powder to the diet had definitely a favorable effect in promoting the growth of young pigs. The feed efficiency (weight gain in percent of the weight of feed consumed) of the Chlorella-containing diet, measured during the period of 120 days, was 23-28% compared with 17-18% shown by the control diet. Evidence that Chlorella cells contain some unknown vitamin-like substances was provided by the fact that the acid extracts and protease-digests ('peptones') of algal material showed distinct stimulating effects upon the growth of lactic acid bacteria and other microbes. Using Lactobacillus acidophilus as test organism it was revealed that the acid extract of algal material contained at least four effective components (1) a proteinous substance, (2) arginine, (3) a peptidic substance, and (4) a nucleotide-peptide complex. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 17, 1962
Accession Number
AD0282058

Entities

People

  • Hiroshi Tamiya

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Algae
  • Bacteria
  • Body Weight
  • Cells
  • Chemical Composition
  • Efficiency
  • Food
  • Lactic Acid
  • Materials
  • Microorganisms
  • Nucleotides

Fields of Study

  • Agricultural and Food sciences
  • Biology

Readers

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Immunology
  • Marine Ecotoxicology