BINMEI Becomes the First Brand of Phycocyanin in China

Plant-based food has set off an upsurge in the market in recent years, in which plant protein has attracted much attention and captured the trust of many consumers because of its low allergenicity and rich nutrition. Spirulina is the example in this case considered as “One of the Best Sources of Protein” and “the Ideal Food for Human Beings in the World” by FAO. Having functions of anti-oxidation, anti-radiation, improving anemia, enhancing immunity, protecting ovary, anti-cancer, and so on, phycocyanin has become a protein source of great concern in the food industry.

After revising the standard of phycocyanin in 2013, the FDA of the United States stipulated that phycocyanin can be consumed in food without limit, even extended to the field of drugs, which provide favorable conditions for expanding its commercial application. According to the report from Express Wire, the global pharmaceutical grade phycocyanin market was worth US $29 million in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of about 6.0% in the next five years, reaching US $38 million by 2024.

The huge demand and preferential policies appear many phycocyanin manufacturers to compete for the market share. The manufacture of phycocyanin is matured in the European and American market, but it is still on the rise in the Chinese market. It is expected that China will form a mature phycocyanin industry chain led by Zhejiang Binmei Biotechnology Co., Ltd. to be a new outbreak place of phycocyanin in the next ten years.

BINMEI is the earliest manufacturer of spirulina extract in China and has become the first brand of phycocyanin in China. It owns the independent intellectual property rights of phycocyanin, whose products are safe and healthy enough to be widely used and exported to the United States, Europe, Japan, and other countries. BINMEI becomes one of the most influential phycocyanin producers in China and even in the world mainly due to the following points.

Top breeding base of spirulina

The quality of phycocyanin is closely related to the quality of raw materials. To better control the quality of the finished products, BINMEI takes Ordos Plateau of Inner Mongolia as the primary cultivation base of spirulina, which occupies the best growth conditions of spirulina. The following are the main reasons why BINMEI chooses to plant its spirulina in the Ordos Plateau of Inner Mongolia.

  • Low-temperature type DunDing spirulina is a unique variety of spirulina in the Ordos Plateau of Inner Mongolia, containing DHA, an essential component of the brain cell membrane.
  • The environment in Ordos Plateau in Inner Mongolia is dry all year round and up to 3076 hours of sunshine time a year, which lays a good foundation for the photosynthesis of spirulina. Due to the suitable growth environment, the protein content of BINMEI’s spirulina is generally between 65% and 72%.
  • Deep well water 500 meters underground is what BINMEI used to culture its spirulina, which lowers the metal content in spirulina (lead ≤ 0.2, arsenic ≤ 0.3, mercury, and cadmium are almost zero).
  • The rich Alkali Lakes in the Ordos Plateau of Inner Mongolia provide sufficient guarantee for spirulina cultivation’s primary raw material – sodium bicarbonate.

Comprehensive quality management system

In addition to strict control of its spirulina extract in raw materials, BINMEI also deploys a comprehensive quality management system to present the best phycocyanin to its customers.

  • Environmental control system: the production environment must be healthy and sterile as phycocyanin is edible. Binmei is meticulous to every link of phycocyanin production to ensure a dust-free, constant temperature and humidity environment with its environmental control system.
  • Cold chain system: the cold chain system aims to keep the spirulina extract in a stable or low-temperature environment during the production, transportation, and storage process to avoid quality variation. A cold chain system is deployed by BINMEI in the whole process of phycocyanin production to control the temperature and PH of the product strictly.
  • Filtration system: multiple filtrations are adopted to remove more than 90% of miscellaneous proteins.
  • Drying system: to the requirement of 500 liters of liquid evaporation per hour, BINMEI adopts the fully sealed pipeline transportation mode to achieve a more intelligent and efficient manufacturing process.
  • Packaging system: X-ray detection system works in the filling and packing process of spirulina extract to strictly control the invading of impurities.

Scientific research and innovation

The phycocyanin M18 launched by BINMEI in 2020 allows maltodextrin to be used in phycocyanin. This achievement consolidates its leading position in the field of active protein and further proves the high degree of professionalism of BINMEI in the industry. Moreover, phycocyanin stuck in wise application due to the photophobic and thermophobic properties. Given that, BINMEI is expected to introduce spirulina extract that is not afraid of high temperature and light committed in 2021 to solve the problem of instability of phycocyanin fully.

Conclusion

The outbreak of the COVID- 19 epidemic increases people’s health awareness day by day. Furthermore, the rise of “clean labels” also promoted the rapid development of natural pigments. There is no doubt that phycocyanin’s global demand will usher in its explosive period in the next few years. BINMEI keeps up with the market demand and promotes the development of the phycocyanin market with its rich experience in the field of active protein.