Estructura de la encuesta

Now, let’s look at the differences between manufacturers of Astaxanthin: Currently there are already a handful of manufacturers of Astaxanthin for human nutrition, all of which are from Haematococcus microalgae with the excep- tion of one product from mutated Phaffia yeast. We’ll see in the next sec- tion why this Phaffia yeast product as well as synthetic Astaxanthin are vastly infe- rior forms. In the mean- time, let’s examine the dif- ference between manufac- turers of Natural Astaxanthin from microal- gae.

The complexities of growing and processing microalgae vary immensely according to the species. The most common species of microalgae produced and marketed for human consumption is a blue green algae called Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis). While there are great differences in quality between the different farms producing Spirulina around the world, the actual growing process is much easier than growing Haematococcus microalgae. This is because Spirulina grows in a very alkaline environment; growers must add large amounts of baking soda to get the alkalinity in the ponds up to about 10 on the pH scale. This also prevents other organisms from invading the ponds. Haematococcus poses a special challenge because it grows in a pH neutral environment. This is why there are only a few companies in the world that have been able to success- fully produce this species. In fact, several companies have gone bankrupt trying to figure out how to successfully grow Haematococcus.

Cyanotech Corporation has been commercially producing microalgal products for 23 years. During this time, advanced technology has been developed which, combined with its location on the pristine Kona Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii, allows Cyanotech to produce uni-algal, contamination-free products. Overhead view of Spirulina ponds, Kona, Hawaii. Spirulina is a

Cyanotech’s most advanced technology is used for the production of Natural Astaxanthin from Haematococcus microalgae. The initial production of Haematococcus takes place in closed culture systems, some as large as 40,000 liters. This is followed by a short, five to seven day, “reddening” cycle conduct- ed in 500,000 liter open culture ponds. At each stage of Astaxanthin production, Haematococcus cultures are closely monitored by microscopic examination to ensure the cultures are pure and free from contaminating organisms. After the reddening cycle, the Haematococcus cultures are harvested, washed and dried. The final step for the production of Astaxanthin is extraction of dried Haematococcus biomass using supercritical carbon dioxide to produce a purified oleoresin, absolutely free of any biological or environmental contamination. As we mentioned above, this supercritical extraction process is a vital step in ensur- ing the proper stability, potency, and purity of all Natural Astaxanthin products.

Cyanotech’s 90 acre (40 hectare) microalgae farm on the pristine Kona Coast of Hawaii’s Big Island

Haematococcus cultures in the experimental stage

Haematococcus a few days away from harvest stage

A Haematococcus pond ready for harvest

All other commercial producers of Haematococcus today currently use closed culture systems. Many falsely claim that fully closed systems are superi- or because they protect the algae from contamination. This is a misconception— that closed culture production of microalgal products eliminates contamination from unwanted organisms. Closed culture systems can be (and often are) con- taminated by unwanted algae, fungi, and protozoa. When this does occur, elimi- nation of the biological contamination in closed culture systems can be very dif- ficult because of the high surface area and many “nooks and crannies” in such systems. Indeed, persistent contamination of closed cultures systems has led to serious problems for microalgae companies in California, Hawaii (not Cyanotech), and Europe—in all three cases it led to bankruptcy for these compa- nies. Currently, a new Haematococcus production facility in Hawaii which uses small BioDomes has found that it is extremely difficult and expensive to control contamination. The economic viability of this facility is in question.

Cyanotech’s closed culture systems, as well as its open pond systems, have been designed based on many years of experience to minimize these problems and to ensure production of contamination-free microalgal products. And the supercritical solvent free extraction that the algae go through before reaching the consumer fully ensures that the product is safe and pure. On top of all the test- ing during the growing phases and the supercritical extraction, each finished pro- duction lot of Natural Astaxanthin at Cyanotech is fully tested under meticulous quality control parameters in state-of-the-art laboratories.

Cyanotech’s Natural Astaxanthin production is registered as an ISO 9001- 2000 Quality Management System, and holds a Food Establishment Permit from the State of Hawaii Department of Health for manufacturing and processing. Cyanotech also uses current Good Manufacturing Practices (c-GMP) and oper- ates under US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines. And as previ- ously mentioned, each lot of Cyanotech’s Natural Astaxanthin goes through rig- orous quality control to ensure the highest quality and purity.

Furthermore, extensive stability testing is done to ensure that products will have the stated amount of Astaxanthin by the time they get to the consumer. This is a critical step in the process—it’s not good enough to just produce Haematococcus—you have to make sure that the Astaxanthin is protected and sta- ble throughout the growing process, the extraction, the encapsulation or tableting and the packaging, otherwise all the previous work will be in vain.

experience and proprietary technology allow it to produce far greater quantities of Natural Astaxanthin than its competitors and maintain a market share at over half of the worldwide market for human nutrition Astaxanthin products. When you purchase Astaxanthin, make sure it’s from one of Cyanotech’s many world- wide distributors.

Natural versus Synthetic and Phaffia-Derived