Microalgae extract

A microscopic organism with a precise name

The phrase blue-green algae does not finish this organism’s colour story. Phormidium persicinum belongs to the cyanobacteria, and UTEX describes a preserved marine strain rich in C-phycoerythrin, a pigment protein, with a red appearance. Follow that particular record rather than picturing a generic green pool. Group name, observed colour and species identity supply different clues. The cosmetic declaration Phormidium Persicinum Extract then opens another stage: a separately prepared material, whose own specification is needed before the culture portrait can be connected to a supplied ingredient.

A culture collection supplies a particularly detailed kind of provenance. UTEX and Göttingen’s SAG record strains associated with Woods Hole, Massachusetts, retaining links between collection history and maintained cultures. An identity can be followed through records even when the living material is microscopic. Those scientific collections give the reader a place and a documented strain to explore; the origin of BK’s purchased extract belongs to its own commercial supply record.

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A little history

A microscopic organism with dated records

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1. 1954

   Isolation recorded

   UTEX attributes isolation of its strain to I. J. Pintner.

2. 1958

   Cultivation study published

   Pintner and Provasoli report research on culture requirements and pigmentation.

3. 1986

   UTEX deposition recorded

   The collection records F. T. Haxo’s deposition on 25 October 1986.

Cultivation replaces the field or orchard

Cultivation starts by providing a suitable medium and light. Pintner and Provasoli’s 1958 investigation found that vitamin B12 was required in their culture conditions and examined how nitrogen supply affected pigmentation. That is a strikingly practical growing question: the recipe influences the living material being maintained. The cultivation vessel replaces the field scene, bringing water, nutrients and controlled conditions into view before any biomass is recovered for a further process.

A later primary study describes a separate recovery sequence. Researchers grew a defined culture with aeration and a light-and-dark schedule, collected biomass by centrifugation, and used freeze–thaw cycles to release cell material. Further separation isolated C-phycoerythrin for their experiment. Each operation changes what is being handled, from growing culture to collected cells to a selected fraction. This documented laboratory journey helps explain processing; BK’s Phormidium Persicinum Extract has its own production specification.

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Follow the journey

Making the tiny stages visible

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1. 01

   Cultivate

   Supply a suitable medium, light and growing conditions.

2. 02

   Collect biomass

   Research methods use centrifugation.

3. 03

   Release material

   Disrupt cells to access constituents.

4. 04

   Separate a fraction

   A study isolates C-phycoerythrin.

A closer view

A crop at a much smaller scale

An extract has a different form from a culture

A living culture, collected biomass and a water-soluble extract have distinct physical forms. Extraction selects and transfers constituents into a supplied ingredient, which can then be concentrated or combined with a carrier. CODIF identifies a commercial Phormidium persicinum-derived ingredient as water soluble. Its product documentation offers an example of the cosmetic raw-material route; the exact carrier, composition and grade in BK’s formulas need their own supplier information.

Blue-green algae sounds like a colour description, yet this group can give you a surprising red portrait. UTEX records its Phormidium persicinum strain as rich in C-phycoerythrin, with red colour and variation in appearance. The pigment name helps explain the collection’s observation more precisely than the broad group wording. A cosmetic extract adds another stage of selection and preparation, and its colour depends on the material collected and how it was handled. The finished bar brings other ingredients into the picture too. Keep the living culture, prepared extract and complete formula as three separate views, each with its own colour story to investigate.

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An extract with its own specification

The shampoo declaration names Phormidium Persicinum Extract, giving you a particular material to investigate within the care blend. CODIF’s species-specific commercial example describes a water-soluble ingredient. That makes the next question practical: what prepared material, carrier and composition does the maker receive? The living organism supplies the beginning of the story, then cultivation and extraction give a raw material that can be incorporated alongside the rest of the formula.

Scientific work may follow a different destination from cosmetic manufacture. The cited laboratory study isolates C-phycoerythrin, while a commercial extract has its own specification and testing. Keep those materials distinct as you read. A pigment isolated for research is a fascinating view into the organism, and the product declaration identifies the cosmetic ingredient actually included. The finished shampoo’s directions and evidence complete the account of a formula that is washed and rinsed.

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The group name does not predict the colour

Blue-green algae is a familiar group description, but a particular culture can surprise that expectation. UTEX describes its Phormidium persicinum strain as rich in C-phycoerythrin and records red colour and morphological variation. The pigment name makes the observation more precise. Picture a colour in a living culture as something to investigate through the organism and its conditions, rather than as a fixed consequence of the broad group name.

A prepared extract introduces another selection step. Collected biomass, a research-isolated pigment and a commercial cosmetic extract each have their own composition and physical form. Keeping those distinctions beside the red-culture detail prevents an attractive colour from becoming a promise about the finished bar. The fascinating part is the range of scales: a microscopic organism produces material that researchers can separate and characterise, while ingredient manufacture prepares its own specified extract.

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Meet the material

Three materials around the red-culture story

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• Living culture

  UTEX records red colour and variation in a named strain.

• Research pigment

  A laboratory study isolates and characterises C-phycoerythrin.

• Cosmetic extract

  A commercial preparation has its own specification and composition.

A small culture has a substantial surrounding system

The primary cultivation study makes light, air, water and recovery equipment visible around the organism. Those details give the source a concrete working environment, replacing an imagined harvest of unspecified seaweed with a documented culture. The research then collects biomass and isolates a pigment under stated laboratory conditions. The organism is small, while the practical system supporting growth and preparation has several stages to operate.

A commercial ingredient needs its own account of cultivation, collection and preparation. Ask which system and grade the supplier documents, and keep a laboratory method separate from an industrial route. For BK, the exact declaration Phormidium Persicinum Extract remains the identity to follow; the actual culture conditions and carrier are unresolved without supplier records. This is useful uncertainty: it keeps the compelling culture story intact while showing precisely which information would connect it to the purchased material.

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Compare two kinds of cultivation

Blue-green algae sounds like a colour already chosen, yet the UTEX strain described here has a red appearance, associated with the pigment protein C-phycoerythrin. It is a delightful reminder that a group name need not predict what we see. The cosmetic name Phormidium Persicinum Extract introduces another chapter: a prepared extract, rather than the living culture itself. Pseudanabaena persicina helps connect the taxonomic records. The striking red culture makes the organism memorable, without choosing the extract’s carrier, the BK supply grade or the colour of a finished product.

Look a little closer

Three records keep the small beginning visible

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1. The collection record

   UTEX and SAG connect maintained strains with documented collection history, including the Woods Hole association.

2. The naming record

   Taxonomic cross-references help the reader follow related scientific records while retaining the actual ingredient declaration.

3. The grade record

   Phormidium Persicinum Extract needs its own commercial composition and source account before it can be tied to a purchased material.

Read the sources 1 · 2 · 3 · 4

A little discovery

A red surprise behind a familiar group name

Created illustration

1. 01

   The red culture

   UTEX describes a particular marine strain with a red appearance and C-phycoerythrin. This observation belongs to that culture record.

2. 02

   The named extract

   Phormidium Persicinum Extract describes a cosmetic preparation. It is a different subject from the living strain, with its own supplied-material details.

3. 03

   The next chapter stays open

   Pseudanabaena persicina is a taxonomic cross-reference. The culture’s appearance does not establish an extract’s carrier, BK grade or finished-product colour.

From learning to the label

The BK connection

Here’s where this story meets a BK bar. These products name the ingredient on their published ingredient information. Follow a link to see how it sits alongside the rest of the formula.

Catalogue checked on 13 October 2026. Visit the product page and current package for the latest formula and offer.