The Dutch project 'Blauwe Keten' (Blue Chain) looks at possibilities to develop commercial algae cultivation in greenhouses in the regions of West Brabant, The Netherlands, and Flanders, Belgium. The Centre of Expertise Biobased Economy is involved in two aspects of this project.
First, the Biobased Products research group looks to the isolation and stabilization of blue dye from algae. Blue dye is an interesting commercial product for algae cultivation. During the past period the project team has succeeded in isolating blue dye. Unfortunately the dye is not stable yet and fades quickly. Stability is the subject of the next research phase.
In addition to the extraction of blue dye from algae, the CoE BBE is also involved in research into the possibilities of growing duckweed on waste water from algae cultivation. The Biobased Energy research group looks at how proteins can be isolated from duckweed and applied in non-food applications. During the past period the composition of duckweed was examined and the research into several isolation techniques was started. In addition, possibilities were researched to use duckweed as cattle feed. A report about this will be available by mid-2017.
Source: Centre of Expertise Biobased Economy