Exploring the Nutritional Potential of Microalgae in the Formulation of Bakery Products
Open accessAbstract
Microalgae have positioned themselves as an innovative and sustainable source of bioactive compounds and high nutritional value. The selection of a suitable food carrier is important to ease its consumption, and to preserve bioactivity through food processing. The aim of this study was to assess the suitability of different microalgae in baked products. Crackers and grissini were produced following a specific formulation, with percentages ranging from 1.5 to 3.5% of flour substituted with Spirulina, Chlorella, and Tetraselmis dry biomass in the formulas. Physico-chemical, nutritional, and sensorial characterization was carried out. The incorporation of microalgae led to increased nutritional values, including antioxidant capacity (AOX), total phenolic content (TPC) and protein content with an amino acids’ identification and quantification. Grissini with Chlorella at 3.5% and crackers with Spirulina at 1.5% levels, showed a higher overall acceptance within the panelists. For amino acid content, Spirulina crackers were shown to be rich in alanine, aspartate, and tryptophan, while Chlorella grissini stood out for being particularly rich in isoleucine, leucine, lysine, and valine. Thus, Spirulina and Chlorella could be a sustainable ingredient to formulate baked goods with an enhanced nutrimental matrix without altering their acceptability to consumers.
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Spirulina incorporation in bakery products provides a nutritional boost in protein and fiber, enriches the diet with minerals, contributes color, and improves antioxidant activity.
“In addition to providing a nutritional boost in protein and fiber and enriching the diet with minerals [78,79], color contribution was also reported [79,80], and all these studies noted improved antioxidant activity associated with Spirulina incorporation.”
From Valorization of Microalgae as Multifunctional Protein Sources in Plant-Based Systems: Structural, Functional, and Processing Challenges (2026) · cites this paper as [80]
Section 3.2 (page unavailable) reports strong antioxidant activity for Spirulina crackers, and the Introduction describes Spirulina pigments as colorants. But Section 3.2 explicitly says Spirulina did not increase protein content in the crackers or grissini tested; the cited passages also do not establish increased fiber or mineral content in those products. (LLM, conf=0.89)
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- Authors
- Hernández-López, I., Abadias, M., Prieto-Santiago, V., Chic-Blanco, Á., Ortiz-Solà, J., & Aguiló-Aguayo, I.
- Affiliations
- Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology (ES)
- IRTA, Postharvest Programme, Parc Agrobiotech Lleida. Parc de Gardeny, Edifici Fruitcentre, 25003 Lleida, Spain
- Venue
- Foods
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2023-12-26
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 84
- ISSN
- 2304-8158 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10778747
- OpenAlex
- W4390236743
- Cited by
- 16
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 3.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Foods (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- IRTA (Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentaries) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- ProFuture project (862980, RYC-2016-19949)
- European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programm (862980, RYC-2016-19949)
- CERCA Programme (862980, RYC-2016-19949)
- National Programme for the Promotion of Talent and Its Employability of the ‘Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad’ of the Spanish Government (862980, RYC-2016-19949)
- European Social Fund (862980, RYC-2016-19949)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Seaweed-derived Bioactive Compounds
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food and Agricultural Sciences
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Seed and Plant Biochemistry
- Keywords
- microalgae, Spirulina, Chlorella, Tetraselmis, bakery products, crackers, functional food ingredients, antioxidant capacity, total phenolic content, amino acid composition, sensory acceptability, flour substitution, nutritional value
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