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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -
The large tanks inside Algaen's manufacturing facility appear to be full of dirty water, but it's just what the scientists here want. Growing inside each one is a one-of-a-kind algae.
The president of Algaen, Dr. Fan Lu, has studied algae and its potential for more than 10 years, and he's figured out how to single out different species of algae and use them for different applications.
"There's bad algae and good algae," he explains. "We are focused on the good one."
The stuff he's growing in those tanks will end up on the shelves of health food stores.
It's called Algaberry -- small algae colonies that are high in dietary fiber, vitamin A and protein. Some tests show they also help reduce cholesterol and perhaps most unusually, the algaberries themselves have no taste.
"Try it," Lu encourages. "It's like gelatin ... a little bit chewy."
Algaberries can be used in smoothies, on cereal and salads, in soups or in yogurt.
With grant money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, Lu and his staff have worked for more than five years to perfect growing the algae so its beneficial qualities can be packaged and sold.
Because it takes up to three months for the berries to reach full-size, investors have jumped on board to help speed up the process nature created and Lu is working to reproduce. "The quality can be controlled and no contamination," Lu explains.
Algaen employs fewer than a dozen people now, but with products in stores in North Carolina, Florida and soon Arizona, Algaberry's popularity seems to be growing faster than what the berries the Chinese have called "a fruit from heaven" for centuries.
Unless you stumble upon just the right algae in just the right rice field or pond, the only place making pure, edible, healthy algaberry is right here in North Carolina.
The president of Algaen, Dr. Fan Lu, has studied algae and its potential for more than 10 years, and he's figured out how to single out different species of algae and use them for different applications.
"There's bad algae and good algae," he explains. "We are focused on the good one."
The stuff he's growing in those tanks will end up on the shelves of health food stores.
It's called Algaberry -- small algae colonies that are high in dietary fiber, vitamin A and protein. Some tests show they also help reduce cholesterol and perhaps most unusually, the algaberries themselves have no taste.
"Try it," Lu encourages. "It's like gelatin ... a little bit chewy."
Algaberries can be used in smoothies, on cereal and salads, in soups or in yogurt.
With grant money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, Lu and his staff have worked for more than five years to perfect growing the algae so its beneficial qualities can be packaged and sold.
Because it takes up to three months for the berries to reach full-size, investors have jumped on board to help speed up the process nature created and Lu is working to reproduce. "The quality can be controlled and no contamination," Lu explains.
Algaen employs fewer than a dozen people now, but with products in stores in North Carolina, Florida and soon Arizona, Algaberry's popularity seems to be growing faster than what the berries the Chinese have called "a fruit from heaven" for centuries.
Unless you stumble upon just the right algae in just the right rice field or pond, the only place making pure, edible, healthy algaberry is right here in North Carolina.
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