What is Novel Food ?

Did you ever heard about single cell protein ? What is SCP ? Do you know about novel foods / mini foods ? Do they refer the same i.e., SCP ? Why are proteins synthesized from Spirulina called single cell proteins ? What are the advantages & disadvantages of single cell proteins ? Wanted to know more about SCP ? So.. lets get started..!

Single Cell Protein :

SCP is the dried biomass of particular species of microbes as protein source in diet . It refers to the total protein extracted from the pure culture of microorganisms ( MO’s) . These are used as dietary protein supplement .

SCP is one of the alternate sources of protein. They are used as both animal feed & human feed as a protein supplement . Microbes are being grown as a source of good protein . Unicellular organisms like algae , fungi , yeasts and bacteria when cultured on suitable substrates can generate large quantities of proteins . The purified dried biomass of these organisms are a good source of proteins . Biomass is the mass of living organism of a species expressed in terms of fresh weight or dry weight .

What are novel foods / mini foods ?

Single cell proteins are also known as novel foods or mini foods . It is also known as microbial protein . Novel food is a type of food that doesn’t have a significant history of consumption . These are produced by the food enhancement process . Therefore , SCP are also known as novel foods / mini foods .

Is Spirulina a single cell protein ?

Utilisation of Torula yeast ( Candida utilis ) in preparation of soups . Being unicellular filamentous algal component harvesting is less expensive and simple. It is rich in digestive proteins ( 60-70% ) , vitamins , nutrients , carbohydrates and fats . Spirulina can be cultured in waste water from potato processing plants which possess starch , straw , animal manure , sewage & molasses . By such a type of recycling of industrial effluents reduces environmental pollution .

Nutritive value and Use of SCP :

Nutritive value varies with the type of microorganism used. Protein digestibility values , expressed as a percentage range from 65 – 96 for the various cultures tested . Protein efficiency ratio ( PER ) values range from 0.6 – 2.6 .

Advantages of Single Cell Protein :

SCP are very much advantageous over the common conventional source of protein . Some major advantages are as follows :

• SCP are poor in fat content
• SCP can be grown in relatively small area & in large quantities
• SCP exhibit fast rate of growth
• SCP are good sources of B-complex
• SCP can be grown on low cost industrial effluents
• SCP can be cultured in all climatic conditions
• SCP can be produced throughout the year
• SCP can produce high quantity of proteins

These are some of the major advantages of single cell protein .

Disadvantages of Single Cell Protein :

• Exhibit low cell density
• Risk of contamination in growth tanks .
• Production of endotoxins like mycotoxins .
• Presence of high nucleic acid content .
• Presence of carcinogenic or toxic compounds .
• It is a very expensive process .
• May have some allergic reactions .
• Requirements of high sterilization conditions .

Commercially available SCP’s :

Commercially available single cell proteins include : Spirulina , Chlorella , Fusarium , Scenedesmus , Candida , Chaetomium etc.., are some of the commercially available single cell proteins .

So , by the end of this we came to know about SCP’s , novel foods , spirulina , advantages & disadvantages of scp and also about the commercially available single cell proteins …