Chlorella Is High in Vitamin B12 (Methylcobalamin)

Although chlorella (Chlorella vulgaris) is already sold in health food stores around the world, researchers are still just learning the makeup of this single-celled green alga. A study out of a national research institute in India, though, provides a little more information about chlorella’s vitamin B12 contents.

Researchers at the CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute in Mysore, India quantified chlorella’s vitamin B₁₂ and identified it as the methylcobalamin form of this essential nutrient. Their data, published in Food Chemistry, is based on multiple microbiological and chemiluminescence tests that they used to record vitamin B₁₂ levels between 26.84 ± 2µg and 29.87 ± 2µg per 100 g of dry-weight chlorella.

The finding should improve chlorella’s standing as a useful source of nutrition, but the ingredient has many other nutrients, including minerals, vitamins, and amino acids. Scientists have recently reported a lack of published human trials on chlorella, but some optimism can be had in what trials have been completed, including a very recent placebo-controlled trial on chlorella’s potential to improve lipid profiles in obese adults.

Robby Gardner
Associate Editor
Nutritional Outlook magazine
[email protected]

Photo © iStockphoto.com/VeraShine