What is spirulina?
Spirulina is a blue-green microalga, scientific name Arthrospira platensis. It is grown in ponds or under glass, harvested, filtered, pressed and then dried. Depending on how it is dried and broken up, you get flakes, granules, a fine powder or tablets.
Its very dark colour comes from its pigments, including phycocyanin, which gives it its deep blue. On the palate it is forthright: marine, a little vegetal, long in the mouth. It is an ingredient, not a discreet flavouring — and that is why we prefer to cook it rather than have it swallowed.
We do not grow spirulina. We choose it farm by farm, we distribute it as it is, and we turn it into recipes. Our current origins: India (Tamil Nadu, organic, Ecocert mention), France (Var, Hyères) and Burkina Faso (the solidarity farm at Gondologo). Other origins appear in our historic catalogues, including Greece — Thessaloniki, granules produced under glass, “not centrifuged but harvested by a process that avoids all stress”.
To date, our product pages document only three spirulina origins: India, France and Burkina Faso. Chile, Costa Rica, Tunisia and Greece appear in our historic catalogues without any active line; they are therefore not advertised as available.
Raw or heated: why we cook nothing
This is the rule that structures everything else, and it appears on almost all our labels: never cook.
Spirulina is a very fragile product. Cooking changes its taste and texture — it becomes flatter, dustier. Our house recipes are therefore designed cold, and we put it in black and white on the Spiru-Yang: “guaranteed neither cooked, nor pasteurised, nor sterilised, 100% raw”. For each product, follow the instructions on the label.
In practice, this means:
- The spirulina is added at the end of preparation, off the heat.
- It is mixed into cold or lukewarm preparations: vinaigrette, pesto, guacamole, tapenade, gazpacho, yoghurt, juice.
- It can be sprinkled over a hot dish at the moment of serving: pasta, soup, rice. The contact is brief, and the plate is no longer on the heat.
- It is not mixed into a dough to be baked, or into a sauce that will simmer.
The same constraint applies to our powdered cocktails and condiments: they are made to be diluted or sprinkled, never heated.
Choosing your format
Flakes
Spirulina dried into crunchy slivers. This is the rawest and most forthright format: you see the product, you hear it under the tooth. Flakes can be crunched as they are, or added to a salad, a compote, a juice.
Our flakes: France (Var, Hyères) in 100 g, 500 g and 1 kg; Burkina Faso (solidarity) in 100 g, 500 g and 1 kg.
Granules
Finer than flakes, granules disperse better in a preparation. It is the format we use in our condiments: Green Mix Salade and Spiral Gomasio contain 12% spirulina granules.
Powder
Finely ground spirulina. This is the most versatile format: it dissolves in a liquid, blends into a sauce, mixes into a mash. It is also the base of all our preparations to dilute — Spirtonik, Spiru’Love, Sportonus, Mélange Atout Fer, Specialgue D-TOX.
Our Indian powder (organic, Ecocert mention) comes in 100 g, 150 g, 500 g, 1 kg and 5 kg.
Tablets
Compressed spirulina, at 500 mg per tablet — that is 200 tablets per 100 g. This is the travel and routine format: nothing to measure, nothing to mix. Our product pages recommend sucking the tablets rather than swallowing them in one go.
Available in 100 g, 500 g, 1 kg and 5 kg, in the India range.
In the kitchen: quantities
The references below are those on our product pages. They concern culinary use: how much to add so that it tastes good, and from when it is too much.
| Product | Use stated on the product page | |—|—| | Spirulina flakes (France, Burkina Faso) | 5 to 10 g per day, to crunch as they are or add to food (salads, compotes, juices) | | Spirulina powder (India) | 5 to 10 g per day, to add to salads, vinaigrettes, compotes, juices | | Spirulina tablets (India) | From 5 to 20 tablets per day; for example 5 for a child, 10 for an adult, 20 for a sportsperson. Increase by one tablet per day | | Spirtonik | One teaspoon or tablespoon diluted in fresh fruit juice | | Spiru’Love | One teaspoon diluted in fresh fruit juice | | Sportonus | 1 to 2 large spoonfuls blended with water and fresh fruit, or with a plant milk (rice, almond, hazelnut, spelt) | | Mélange Atout Fer · Specialgue D-TOX | 1 teaspoon or tablespoon in a preparation of your choice: vinaigrette, guacamole, tapenade, gazpacho, pesto, tartare | | Spirulina & Pineapple | 1 teaspoon or tablespoon in a fruit juice, preferably fresh pineapple juice, one hour before a meal | | Spiral Gomasio · Green Mix Salade | To sprinkle over your dishes: salads, soups, pasta, rice, vinaigrettes, tartares | | Spirulina & Nuts · Spirulina Cacao & Nuts | To enjoy as they are, or to stir into yoghurts, compotes and desserts | | Spiru-Yang | To spread on toast, in a sandwich, rolled into a maki, or melted into a vinaigrette | | Maca powder | 1 to 2 small spoonfuls in your preparations: chocolate, plant milks, juices, sauces |
Recommended maximum daily dose: 20 g. This note appears on our plain spirulina product pages and on several blends. We repeat it because it is useful: beyond that, nothing is gained, and the recipe loses its balance.
Three usage precautions to know:
- Preparations containing guarana (Spirtonik, Spiru’Love, Sportonus, guarana powder) are rich in caffeine. They are not recommended for children, pregnant women or breastfeeding women.
- Allergens are stated plainly on each product page: sesame and soya in the Spiru-Yang, wheat (malted yeast) in Green Mix Salade, hazelnut and almond in Sportonus.
- Our products do not replace a varied and balanced diet, or a healthy lifestyle.
Four ways to start
- On toast. A Spiru-Yang, some toasted bread, nothing else. The simplest way into the house.
- In a vinaigrette. A spoonful of powder or Mélange Atout Fer, olive oil, lemon, a pinch of salt. Whisk, pour.
- Sprinkled at the plate. A Spiral Gomasio or a Green Mix Salade over pasta, rice, soup — at the moment of serving, off the heat.
- In a glass. A Spirtonik or a Spiru’Love diluted in fresh fruit juice; a Sportonus blended with water and fruit.
Storage
The instruction is short and applies to most of the catalogue: store in a dry place, away from light.
- Flakes, granules, powders, tablets, preparations to dilute — Dry, away from light, air and humidity. Our Indian bags are aluminised zips, to be closed after each use. An opaque jar, a cupboard, away from the oven: that is all you need.
- Spiru-Yang (tartares in a jar) — Cool and away from light. Consume quickly after opening, and we recommend adding a drizzle of oil on top for keeping.
- Raw cacao butter — Dry, at room temperature, away from heat.
And in every case: never cook. Well-stored spirulina keeps its colour and its taste; heated spirulina loses both.
Each product page must show the validated best-before date (DDM), nutrition declaration, allergens, net weight and storage conditions.