Summary
Technologically Replacing Additives
Additives fulfill key technological functions in modern foods: They stabilize emulsions, create texture, ensure color, and extend shelf life. At the same time, they are increasingly caught in the crossfire between regulatory requirements, clean-label goals, and growing consumer skepticism towards E-numbers.
Fresh spirulina offers a new approach here. Thanks to its natural extracellular polysaccharide matrix (EPS), it acts as a biological functional substance in the product. Emulsifying, stabilizing, and structuring effects are not achieved through isolated additives, but through a natural, intact functional system.
This expert article shows how fresh microalgae can replace additives technologically, rather than simply by declaring them – and why freshness is a crucial prerequisite. Manufacturers benefit from stable recipes, shorter ingredient lists, and improved market positioning without compromising texture, sensory properties, or process stability.
Read our following article on this topic now or contact us directly.
About ALGENWERK
ALGENWERK is the European technology leader for fresh microalgae grown in closed photobioreactors. The company develops sustainably produced, traceable, and legally compliant microalgae biomass that can be seamlessly integrated into existing recipes – as a natural, functional ingredient for the next generation of healthy, clean-label products.
ALGENWERK stands for the highest quality, purity, and process reliability in microalgae production. Production takes place year-round, is standardized, and independent of seasonal fluctuations. Thanks to closed, ultra-pure systems, germ-free, tasteless biomass is produced that is free of pesticides, antibiotics, and additives.
The patented continuous production process guarantees a shelf life of five weeks, unique in the market (compared to approximately one week for conventional fresh algae), while maintaining consistently high nutrient density and sensory stability.
With over ten years of experience in microalgae production technology, ALGENWERK is now the world’s largest supplier of fresh spirulina. ALGENWERK is ISO 9001 certified.
The Challenge
REDUCING ADDITIVES WITHOUT LOSS OF FUNCTION
Clean labeling has become the standard in many categories, yet additives remain an integral part of numerous recipes in practice. In established products, they perform functions that deeply affect the physical structure of a food. Emulsifiers like E471 bind fat and water phases and ensure product homogeneity.
Stabilizers and thickeners such as E415, E407, E412, or E440 prevent sedimentation, control viscosity, and significantly influence texture and mouthfeel. Colorants ensure consistent brand color and visual recognition, while antioxidants and preservatives extend shelf life and counteract oxidative changes.
Attempts to remove these substances entirely from the recipe directly interfere with a finely balanced physical system. The consequences are well known to R&D teams in practice: emulsions break down, textures become watery or undesirably pasty, particles settle, and colors lose intensity and appeal. This often leads to a reduction in mouthfeel, taste, and shelf life. Reformulations therefore rarely fail due to a lack of fundamental willingness to change, but rather due to the absence of a functional alternative that can reliably perform these tasks.
At the same time, pressure is increasing along the entire value chain. Consumers increasingly expect ingredient lists that are understandable and traceable. Retailers and brands are actively pursuing clean-label strategies and demanding products without E-numbers. Simultaneously, development departments must ensure that product safety, reproducibility, and process capability are maintained even under altered formulation conditions.
Reducing additives is therefore not a matter of simply “omitting” them, but a clear engineering challenge. Ingredients are needed that possess biological functionality and can perform the physical functions of additives – without chemical additives, yet with an effect comparable to, or even superior to, classic functional substances.
In this article, we’ll show you how to overcome these challenges. Don’t have time to read more right now? No problem: Schedule a free expert consultation with us here to learn more about the potential of fresh spirulina for your products.
The SOlution
Fresh spirulina as a functional substitute for additives
Fresh spirulina offers a fundamentally new approach to reducing additives because it achieves its technological function not through isolated additives, but through a natural, biological functional system. Crucial to this is the extracellular polysaccharide matrix (EPS), which is formed during the microalga’s growth and remains fully intact in fresh spirulina.
This EPS matrix acts as a hydroactive network in the food. It binds water, stabilizes the product’s spatial structure, and influences the interfacial tension between fat and water phases. This results in emulsifying, stabilizing, and structuring effects that, in conventional formulations, are otherwise only achieved through the combined use of several additives. Texture, viscosity, and homogeneity are not controlled by individual chemical mechanisms, but by the integrative effect of the biological matrix. Unlike isolated functional substances, this matrix performs several functions simultaneously. Emulsifying effects occur in parallel with water binding and structural stabilization, without the need for separate emulsifiers, stabilizers, or thickeners. Spirulina is not used as a technical additive, but as an ingredient whose natural structure inherently provides these functions. The replacement of additives is therefore not declarative or indirect, but functional.
The processing method is crucial. Drying destroys the spatial integrity of the EPS structure and essentially reduces spirulina to its nutritional components. The functional properties responsible for emulsion stability, texture development, and water binding are largely lost in this process. Only fresh spirulina retains the complete matrix and thus those functions required for the targeted replacement of conventional additives.
Based on this, fresh spirulina can—depending on the product category and process—reduce or completely replace emulsifiers, stabilizers, thickeners, and synthetic colorants.
„In a ganache, the mixture works with fresh spirulina and brings creaminess without additional sugar.“ Sarah Gierig, CEO & Chocolate-Sommelière
Previously used additive | Technological function | Function / Effect of fresh spirulina |
E471 | Emulgator | Stabilization of fat-water phases by EPS |
E415/E407 | Stabilizer / Gelling agent | Structural composition and texture stability |
E412/E440 | Thickener | Increased viscosity and mouthfeel |
E131/E102 | Dyes | Natural pigments such as phycocyanin and carotenoids |
The functional benefit lies not in the isolated replacement of individual E-numbers, but in substituting several additives simultaneously with a single ingredient. Instead of more complex additive systems, fresh spirulina enables a simplified formulation with stable product performance.
In reformulation projects, additives can thus be gradually reduced without compromising emulsion stability, texture, or process reliability. Additive reduction is therefore transformed from a risk into a controllable development step – supported by a natural functional system rather than individual chemical components.
Consumer Acceptance – 97 % find fresh Spirulina neutral in taste
A key advantage for its use: Fresh spirulina is sensorially neutral. In blind taste tests conducted by Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences (2025), 97% of participants rated its taste as mild or neutral, while dried products were frequently described as bitter. This means that fresh spirulina can be used in higher doses without overpowering the flavor of other ingredients – a crucial requirement for optimizing the Nutri-Score in products that must be both “healthy and delicious”.
„My spirulina experience was great. The fresh algae has a very subtle taste compared to the powder.“ Eva-Maria Straub, Blogger, NaturallyRawsome
Did you know? Fresh vs. powder – why freshness matters
Whether a food retains its nutrients and functions depends not only on its composition but, above all, on how it is processed. This difference is particularly evident with spirulina: While powdered products largely lose their biological activity through drying, fresh biomass remains vibrant, functional, and sensorially neutral. Fresh spirulina is considered an unprocessed ingredient.
The following overview highlights the key differences.
DISADVANTAGES OF DRIED SPIRULINA IN POWDER FORM | HOW FRESH SPIRULINA SOLVES THIS |
High oxidation level due to drying → loss of sensitive nutrients (vitamins, unsaturated fatty acids) | Freshly cultivated, not heated: Bioactive compounds remain intact, maximum nutrient density and bioavailability. |
| Denatured proteins by spray drying | Intact protein structure with complete amino acid profile; higher biological value and better digestibility. |
| Low technofunctional activity (weak gel formation, weak emulsifying ability) | Active EPS matrix acts as a natural emulsifier, gelling agent and stabilizer – replaces E471, E415, E407 |
| Loss of color and pigments → pale green, reduced optical effect | Phycocyanin and carotenoids remain stable – intense natural color, replaces artificial colors (E131, E102) |
Results
Demonstrable Benefits for Manufacturers
The use of fresh spirulina as a functional ingredient shows clearly demonstrable effects in practice. The natural EPS matrix takes over technological tasks that were previously performed by multiple additives. This allows for stable, reproducible, and industrially viable reformulations – with simplified labeling and no sensory drawbacks.
Manufacturers benefit in particular from the following effects:
Significantly fewer additives
Emulsifiers and stabilizers can be reduced by up to 70% or completely replaced, depending on the application.
Shorter, more understandable ingredient lists
Complex additive combinations give way to a clearly identifiable functional ingredient.
Stable texture, emulsion, and color despite clean labeling
Structure, homogeneity, and visual appeal are maintained thanks to the biological functional matrix.
Multiple effects instead of individual functions
One ingredient combines stabilization, texture enhancement, natural coloring, and a functional nutritional contribution.
Confirmed process capability
Textures and sensory properties remain reproducible – even under defined industrial process conditions.
Sensitive and versatile
Fresh spirulina exhibits high palatability in typical dosages and does not perceptibly affect the aroma profile of the final product.
Synergies with Nutri-Score and Nutritional Profile
Higher protein and fiber content, as well as additional micronutrients, simultaneously support product evaluation.
These results show that reducing additives is not an isolated intervention in the formulation. Through the combination of functional stability, process reliability, and sensory neutrality, fresh spirulina becomes an integral component of modern reformulation strategies – not as a substitute, but as a functional system.
Feel free to contact us if you would like to learn more about your application options with fresh spirulina.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Typical objections to fresh microalgae – and why they have long been resolved in practice
Costs & Profitability: Compared to conventional additives, the raw material costs of fresh microalgae are initially higher. However, these expenses balance out in the overall analysis – or even become profitable: Improving the Nutri-Score, saving on synthetic additives, and achieving premium positioning in the clean-label segment result in a clear return on investment. According to NielsenIQ (2024), products that improve a Nutri-Score level have up to a 25% higher purchase probability – a direct economic effect that significantly outweighs the additional raw material costs.
Process Integration & Application: Fresh microalgae do not require completely new production facilities, but rather a precise understanding of dosage, pH stability, and temperature control. ALGENWERK provides pilot batches, supports recipe adjustments, and offers application support in all areas. The goal is always to enable integration without structural changes – pragmatically, safely, and reproducibly.
Logistics & Shelf Life: The biomass is delivered chilled and remains stable for up to five weeks. All batches are produced with full traceability, microbiologically tested, and accompanied by clear shelf-life documentation. This ensures that the fresh biomass meets the established quality and hygiene standards of the food industry and can be seamlessly integrated into existing supply chain processes.
Regulatory & Legal Compliance: Spirulina (Limnospira sp.) is approved as a foodstuff in the EU and is not subject to the Novel Food Regulation (EU) 2015/2283. Its use in food is therefore legally permissible. ALGENWERK provides all relevant specifications, certificates, and documentation upon request to support approval and audit processes.
In short: The challenges are solvable – and the advantages clearly outweigh them. Fresh microalgae do not require a change of thinking in terms of risk, but rather in terms of opportunity: the next step towards a naturally functioning, economically viable and regulatory-compliant product generation.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO ASSESS THE POTENTIAL USES OF FRESH SPIRULINA FOR YOUR PRODUCTS? CONTACT OUR TEAM OF EXPERTS HERE OR REQUEST A FREE SAMPLE.
Gunnar Mühlstädt
Engineer and innovator at PUEVIT GmbH (ALGENWERK)
He combines biotechnology and food technology.
His mission: not to replace food, but to improve it with natural, functional raw materials that simultaneously support a sustainable future.