EID Parry and Synthite Industries partner on phycocyanin production 

08 Feb 2018 --- Enhanced health company Valensa International has entered into a joint venture agreement between Valensa’s parent company EID Parry and Synthite Industries Ltd, which promises to boost microalgae extracts for nutraceutical applications. It involves a US$6.5 million investment in an India-based manufacturing facility for the extraction of Parry Organic Spirulina to produce Phycocyanin, which Valensa will be developing for dietary supplements, functional and medical foods.

Both Parry Nutraceuticals and Valensa International are divisions of EID Parry and the US$5 billion Murugappa Group. Parry Nutraceuticals has been a pioneer in the production of microalgae-based technologies and products since the 1970s, with its flagship product Parry Organic Spirulina.

The 50-50 joint venture will leverage Parry Nutraceutical’s cultivation strengths and Synthite’s extraction capabilities making it a strategic fit for both the partners.

In addition, their strengths in marketing will be synergistic, with Parry Nutraceuticals and Valensa focusing on the global human nutrition segment while Synthite Industries will focus on food colors and additives segments.

Valensa has started work on value-added compounds from Parry Organic Spirulina and other microalgae extracts for specific health benefits like cardiovascular health, joint health and immune health.

The extracts have been tested in both in vitro and in vivo, to unravel the mechanism of actions and applications for specific health conditions.

Phycocyanin production
The new plant facility in Tamil Nadu, India, will be for the production of Phycocyanin, a natural blue pigment extracted from spirulina.

Phycocyanin is a complex of light-harvesting proteins, extracted from spirulina which has a characteristic deep blue color. Phycocyanin offers excellent stability and flexibility for application in a variety of food and beverages and is approved by all major regulatory bodies in USA, EU, Japan and South Korea as food color.

"Our partnership will offer our customers a high quality, sustainable, supply of Phycocyanin blue,” said Aju Jacob, Director, Synthite Industries.

“Our leading-edge technology will allow us to qualify our product as a natural “Coloring Food” for European markets and as a certified Organic product for the US market. We will also explore emerging opportunities in Algae extracts for the global health and wellness industry."

Speaking about the joint venture, Muthu Murugappan, Business Head of Parry Nutraceuticals added how the company will initially be focusing on extracting Phycocyanin from spirulina.

“In due course, we will be looking at other avenues within the microalgae segment thereby building the business to a company with a diversified value-added Algae portfolio,” he said.

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