The study investigates whether specific light conditions can enhance the production of active vitamin B₁₂ in Spirulina, a blue-green algae. Traditionally, Spirulina contains predominantly a pseudo-vitamin B₁₂ form, which is inactive in humans. In this in vitro exploratory research, scientists grown Spirulina in scalable LEDs-controlled photobioreactors in order to stimulate the production of biologically active vitamin B₁₂. In the results, it was found that this method yielded Spirulina with vitamin B₁₂ levels as effective as those available in beef (1.64 µg/100g Spirulina in the grown sample compared to 0.7–1.5 µg/100g in beef). The study suggests that large-scale production of such Spirulina could help address global vitamin B₁₂ deficiencies, particularly in populations reliant on plant-based diets.
Source: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s44187-024-00152-1
