Green Foods: Get the Wet Out

Greens are ancient, and their survival over centuries is in part due to their sturdy structure. Many green foods, such as chlorella, possess a tough cell wall, which is nearly impenetrable by the human digestive system. As a result, many companies optimize the greens' bioavailability through specific processing techniques, while still keeping the nutritious benefits intact.

Sun Chlorella tackles chlorella's cellulose barrier with DYNO-Mill, a process that pulverizes 99 percent of the indigestible cell wall. According to Sun Chlorella, the pulverization process naturally increases digestibility to more than 80 percent without using heat, chemicals or enzymes.

PINES Wheat Grass prides itself on using the tried-and-true methods pioneered by Charles Schnabel, Sr., but modernized. To preserve as many nutrients as possible, PINES dehydrates its wheat grass, keeping the product at the same temperature as the air outside. The wheat grass is then pulverized into a powdered form. As the wheat grass is dehydratednever being fully heatedthe product is marketed as raw, which is a big plus for health-conscious greens consumers.

In addition to making vital nutrients available, processing also acts as a crucial quality control (QC) system. "The difficulty with maintaining all natural products is the natural contaminants that come along with them such as coliforms, E. coli and salmonella," said Alison Raban, food technologist, BI Nutraceuticals.

To address these issues, BI uses a Protexx, a patented steam sterilization process. Raban said this technique completely removes harmful pathogens while maintaining the desirable assay components and colors. The result: spec-compliant, microbiologically safe green products that aren't irradiated.

But when it comes to spirulina, there are as many processing techniques as there are companies. Suppliers commonly turn to drum drying, fluid bed drying or spray drying to create a market-ready spirulina powder or tablet.

Once AnMar's spirulina has reached a certain moisture level, the algae is spray dried. Other methods are expensive to run in terms of the scale of economy while minimizing heat, explained John Blanco, president of AnMar International. Spray drying flashes the water off quickly, without subjecting the greens to excessive heat.

"As a result, you're not denaturing and destroying the protein or other heat-sensitive components because the cells see the heat for a much shorter period of time," Blanco said.

The result: powdered spirulina ready for formulation.

Read the previous articles in this series: "Super Green Superfoods" and "Straight From the Green Source."

Find more on the INSIDER Green Foods topic page.