Blue spirulina is the brilliant blue part of spirulina, extracted and dried into a powder. The colour comes from a naturally occurring pigment-protein called phycocyanin. Despite the name, blue spirulina isn't a different blue species of spirulina. It starts with the same intensely green spirulina you may already know. The interesting part is what happens when you look inside it.
There's blue inside green spirulina
Whole spirulina contains several natural pigments.
Chlorophyll contributes green. Carotenoids contribute yellow and orange tones. And then there's phycocyanin, an extraordinarily vivid blue pigment-protein.
Together, those pigments make dried whole spirulina look dark green.
Separate the phycocyanin-rich fraction from the rest, however, and suddenly you have the electric blue that seems like it couldn't possibly have come from the green material you started with.
How is blue spirulina made?
It begins with growing spirulina.
The biomass is harvested and concentrated, but instead of simply drying the whole spirulina into green powder, the phycocyanin is extracted from it.
Phycocyanin is water-soluble, which allows the blue fraction to be drawn out of the biomass. The extract can then be separated from the remaining material, clarified and concentrated.
What begins as a green culture eventually becomes an intensely blue liquid extract.
That extract is then dried into the fine blue powder sold as blue spirulina.
The exact extraction and drying process differs between manufacturers, and there can be additional purification and formulation steps depending on the grade being produced. But the basic idea is remarkably simple: grow the spirulina, extract the blue, concentrate it, dry it.
Is blue spirulina the same thing as phycocyanin?
Not exactly.
Phycocyanin is the pigment-protein responsible for the blue colour.
Blue spirulina is the ingredient made from a phycocyanin-rich extract of spirulina.
The distinction matters because a jar of blue spirulina powder isn't necessarily a jar of chemically pure phycocyanin.
Commercial blue spirulina comes in different concentrations and grades. Some products contain a highly concentrated spirulina extract, while others combine the extract with carriers or stabilising ingredients to produce a particular colour strength, stability or handling characteristic.
Two powders can therefore both legitimately be called blue spirulina while having quite different compositions.
So what is actually in a blue spirulina powder?
That depends on the product.
At its heart is the phycocyanin-rich extract from spirulina. Depending on how the product is made, the finished powder may also contain ingredients such as a carbohydrate carrier or stabilising salts.
This is why the ingredient declaration and specification matter more than the photograph on the front of the pack.
If you're buying blue spirulina for a cafe experiment, you may simply care that it gives you the blue you want.
If you're putting it into a commercial product, you'll probably want to know considerably more: what the powder contains, its colour strength or grade, and what proportion is actually spirulina extract.
Blue spirulina describes a category of ingredients, not one universal formulation.
Why extract it at all?
Because whole spirulina isn't blue.
You can see the phycocyanin only after separating it from the other strongly coloured components of the biomass. If you put ordinary spirulina powder into vanilla ice cream, you get green spirulina ice cream.
Extract the phycocyanin-rich fraction first and you can use that remarkable blue without bringing along all of the green material that ordinarily surrounds it.
That's what makes blue spirulina such an unusual ingredient.
Naturally occurring vivid blues are relatively uncommon, particularly ones that can be extracted into a form useful for food and drinks. Spirulina happens to contain one.
Where to go next
This is also why we make PrismaBlu Vivid as a blue spirulina powder for drinks, desserts, glazes and small production work.
PrismaBlu is the version you can actually buy here: a phycocyanin-rich blue spirulina powder made for people who want the blue effect without using whole green spirulina.
If you're comparing ingredients, start with blue spirulina vs green spirulina.
If you're ready to test the colour, choose a PrismaBlu pack and try it in the actual recipe you want to make.
Use the dosage and handling guides when you're ready to dial in the recipe.
FAQ
Is blue spirulina a different species of spirulina?
No. Blue spirulina is made from the phycocyanin-rich blue fraction extracted from spirulina. Whole spirulina looks green because it also contains chlorophyll, carotenoids and other coloured components.
Is blue spirulina pure phycocyanin?
Not necessarily. Phycocyanin is the blue pigment-protein. Blue spirulina is a commercial ingredient made from a phycocyanin-rich extract, and different powders can have different concentrations, carriers or stabilising ingredients. PrismaBlu Vivid is our blue spirulina powder for recipe testing and production use.