Even many people around the world who are not vegetarians wouldn’t mind eating a burger made from vegetables or cultured from cells and not made from meat if it tasted, looked, and smelled like the real thing.

While some non-meat hamburgers really do taste good, meat-eating fans yearn for the sizzling reddish juice coming out of a real hamburger.

Now, a two-year-old Israeli company named Yemoja in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona is coming to their rescue. It has just unveiled an innovative product – red micro-algae – that will serve as a blood substitute for the cultured and vegetarian meat industries. Vegetarian or cultured steaks and burgers that add the micro-algae will not be pale but will offer an enhanced dining experience, more akin to the original experience of a bite of a burger or steak that has just come out of a charcoal grill, the 

Microalgae is a story of survival; for the past four billion years, microalgae survived under extreme and harsh climate conditions. Microalgae (microphytes) are microscopic phytoplankton invisible to the naked eye. Species with only one cell each or in chains or groups, they are typically found in freshwater and marine systems, living in both the water column and sediment. Unlike higher plants, microalgae do not have roots, stems or leaves. They are specially adapted to their liquid environment. 

Capable of performing photosynthesis, microalgae are important for life on earth, as they produce approximately half of the atmospheric oxygen and use simultaneously the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide to grow.  It has been estimated that about 200,000 to 800,000 species. 

Yemoja, which began in 2017 with only $4 million in funding, is processing advanced, high-value polysaccharides from a variety of microalgae strains for cosmetics, personal healthcare, pharmaceutical, medical industries and now food-related products. 

The first microalgae-sourced heme substitute (artificial “blood”) for plant-based burgers and cultured meat is called Ounje (“food in the Yorba language). It mimics the red juices of real meat without harming cows or the planet and without the need for artificial colors or additives. Ounje creates the umami taste of meat. When heated, it changes its color, taste and appearance just like real meat, the company says. 

There is a growing need for cultured meat, due to the climate crisis (cows produce a huge amount of greenhouse gasses), the growth in the world population and the suffering caused to slaughtered animals.  aroused the urgent need to create cultured food. In recent years, the global food technology industry, based on groundbreaking technological developments, has been offering new products and components that make cultured food attractive and appetizing. Foodtech companies have overcome the nutritional barrie, and are able to offer healthful products, but some suffer from sensory deprivation. The taste, texture and appearance are not always the same as the popular source.

Yemoja researchers combined Porphyridium algae derivatives after developing a groundbreaking system for the biological culture of pure and standardized components from micro-algae intended for the food and cosmetics industries. The system creates manipulation of light, temperature and acidity and allows the creation of materials with an accurate concentration of bioactive components without environmental pollution and with minimal ecological signature. The production process requires few resources, without unnecessary waste. .Porphyridium algae 

Dr. Amikam Bar-Gil, the company’s founder and chief technology officer (CTO), recalled: “We came across the Porfyridium algae by chance, while working on developing a component for the cosmetics field. We decided to stretch the boundaries and try the ingredients on cultured meat products. The result provided us with immediate proof of feasibility.” 

The fast-growing civilized and vegetarian meat industries use beet juice or artificial coloring ingredients in order to give the meat they produce a red and stimulating color. These “color| the foods in a reliable and appetizing color, but the process does not change or caramelize when grilled, as happens with raw meat on the fire. To achieve the caramelizing effect, meat substitute manufacturers use different types of sugar, which is undesirable.

The benefits of Porphyridium algae as a superfood not only add up to aesthetic and sensory benefits, but also a significant nutritional benefit. Microalgae have a protein load of 20% to 30% and a full profile of essential amino acids. Algae are also a valuable source of essential fatty acids, polyphenols, minerals and vitamins.

The company was established by a team of marine biology and biotechnology experts with the aim of leveraging new engineering methods for commercializing and producing species of micro-algae, with high nutritional value that can adapt to nutritional and cosmetic products. Yamoja has so far raised $11 million from leading venture capitalists and a development grant from the European Union’s financing arm, as part of the Horizon 2020 companies’ association.