Natural vitamin B12 and fucose supplementation of green smoothies with edible algae and related quality changes during their shelf life

Abstract

Background. Some algae are an excellent sources of vitamin B12, of special interest for vegetarian/vegan consumers, and of fucose to supplement fruit and vegetable beverages such as smoothies. Nevertheless, supplementation of smoothies with algae may lead to possible quality changes during smoothie shelf life that need to be studied. Therefore, the quality changes in fresh green smoothies supplemented (2.2%) with nine edible algae (sea lettuce, kombu, wakame, thongweed, dulse, Irish moss, nori, Spirulina and Chlorella) were studied throughout 24 days at 5 °C. Results. The initial vitamin C content – 238.7–326.0 mg kg−1 fresh weight (FW) – of a 200 g portion of any of the smoothies ensured full coverage of its recommended daily intake, and still supplying 50–60% of the recommended intake after 7 days. Chlorella and Spirulina smoothies showed the highest vitamin B12 content (33.3 and 15.3 µg kg−1 FW, respectively), while brown algae showed fucose content of 141.1–571.3 mg kg−1 FW. These vitamin B12 and fucose contents were highly maintained during shelf life. Conclusion. The Spirulina supplementation of a 200 g smoothie portion ensured full coverage of the recommended vitamin B12 intake, with lower vitamin C degradation, during a shelf life of 17 days. Furthermore, thongweed and kombu are also considered as excellent fucose sources with similar shelf life.