Spirulina’s jellybean for malnutrition fight

Protein jellybeans, sources of protein for feeding, assisting cases of malnutrition in children from vulnerable communities or in the search for a healthier diet.

The project created and evaluated the production of the cyanobacteria Arthrospira Spirulina platensis by growing in an aquarium with low-cost techniques and produced its own recipe for jellybeans (homemade sweets) with the superfood, in order to make the flavor more palatable, stimulating its consumption. In the creation of spirulina gum candies, several recipes were tested, including a vegan, diet, and sugar version. The recipes of the experiment were tasted by people of different ages who judged taste and smell. The project also aimed to contribute to the UN's 2030 agenda that includes the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and research was formulated based on the second SDGs that makes sure to end the problem of extreme hunger and global malnutrition, and the third SDG that aimed at ensuring a healthy life for all, at all ages.

Spirulina is considered by many as a superfood due to its high nutritional value, especially the very high percentage of protein, however, its consumption is resisted due to the low acceptance of palatability and the high prices of the encapsulated product. Thus, the project aimed to create a biotechnological recipe where it can be consumed in a more palatable way (in the form of jelly beans) for a growing industrial market. A candy enriched with the potential of the superfood Spirulina platensis, in the form of jellybeans, was created and tested by the team, building a tastier way to consume it. At the same time, Spirulina platensis was cultivated, using a low-cost method among the various methods widely publicized in specialized media in order to prove the viability of jujube production by populations with lower purchasing power.

Especially people with less purchasing power to purchase quality protein, a condition that is increasingly frequent and serious in underdeveloped countries.

People who refuse to feed spirulina due to palatability that is generally considered unpleasant. In addition, it is an excellent option for vegans, vegetarians, and athletes to supplement protein goals. To solve the dilemma, where the capsules solve the problem of taste but not the high cost of acquisition, and the powder produced directly solves the problem of cost, but not the taste, the project shows the solution through a recipe that preserves the properties of spirulina, maintains the quality of the food, making its consumption more attractive and enabling the acquisition of spirulina.

News and more news came to us about the economic decline of underdeveloped countries such as Brazil and others even poorer, which saw their problems worsened by the crisis caused by COVID 19, and which especially affect the poorest classes, impacting even on nutritional quality. With the crisis, access to protein for the poorest classes is becoming more and more difficult and already reflects seriously in malnutrition conditions. In this way, we understood that there was a need to look for solutions that aimed to minimize malnutrition aggravated by the crisis, a source of protein that was accessible and nutritionally rich.

The project has been completed at the laboratory level and is ready to be implemented. At the moment we are looking for partnerships to enable the extension of knowledge so that communities in need can produce their own spirulina and jellybeans, and partnerships for the large-scale production of jellybeans to be launched commercially.

Spirulina platensis, which has been the focus of important research, mainly due to its nutritional importance, according to Ambrosi et al (2008), the phycocyanin present in this cyanobacterium presents a nutritional profile that makes it ideal as a food supplement, because it satisfactorily replaces artificial sources of nutrients, by combining several constituents in a balanced way and was also elected by the World Health Organization (WHO) as food containing more than 50 nutrients fundamental to the body.

The solution has not yet been met. As soon as we obtain funding or a partnership, we initially intended to support a social project in the city of Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, which serves 140 children in need.

Replicate in communities in need, produce on a larger scale and commercialize the jellybeans and initial colonies of cyanobacteria

The laboratory results are encouraging enough to seek partnerships and funding for implementation, whether social or commercial, partnerships without which it is not possible to achieve the objectives.

Lack of funds 

Our team is formed by Cellina Landim Gonçalves Afonso and Sophia Bessa Silva. We are currently participating in fairs and events in the search for partnerships with incubators or charities.

Our project is a partner of the organization Força Meninas, and received an award and mentoring from the organization from the contest change the world like a girl that awarded the 10 best projects.
In addition, our project was awarded by the Criativos na Escola, which is a program of the Alana Institute and is part of Design for Change, a global movement of inspiration for children and adolescents around the world that encourage them to transform the reality that surrounds them. We received a cash award and the title of creative ambassador for the school from the institution.

We are a couple of girls who have been doing research since the 6th grade, and we believe that our project will make a difference in the world because it is a creative and tasty alternative enriched with the cyanobacterium  Arthrospira Spirulina platensis  and its super food potential, able to supply the nutritional needs of proteins, in addition to vitamins, minerals among others. It is an affordable source of protein, something that is being very scarce these days.

As it aims to bring a real, practical, and applicable solution to a REAL and URGENT problem, which has the potential to improve people's lives not only today but for all life and for other people, through the dissemination of knowledge. technological.

The award will be to enable the process of replicating the technology of communities in need, through a model of solidary cooperation, where the first beneficiaries commit to helping the next ones and so on, allowing the technology to be disseminated on a large scale.