Fishmeal Replacement Derived From Waste Wood Sees Successful Salmon Trial

A US firm's efforts to commercialize a fishmeal alternative\r\nproduced from wood processing wast received a boost recently when feed trials\r\nfor Atlantic salmon showed no statistical difference in weight gain from the\r\ncompany's ingredient compared to traditional diets.

Durham, North Carolina-based Arbiom said in a press release\r\nthat its SylPro product recently saw success in the feed trial conducted by\r\nMatis Icelandic Food & Biotech R&D.

“These findings indicate that SylPro can be used to replace\r\nfish meal or plant-based proteins in feed for juvenile Atlantic salmon, a\r\ncrucial developmental stage, and deliver equivalent nutritional performance as\r\nconventional protein sources up to 20% inclusion level,” Alexandra Leeper, a\r\ndoctoral candidate from Matis, said in a press release.

Arbiom's Ricardo Ekmay, its vice president of\r\nnutrition, recently told Undercurrent\r\nNews that his company's "wood to feed" platform is\r\nemerging as a strong contender among fishmeal alternatives, a growing suite of\r\nprotein-rich replacements made from single-cell\r\nproteins, insects, food\r\nprocessing wastewater and other technologies.

A major advantage of using waste wood collected from the\r\npulp and paper industry -- material that is usually burned presently -- is that\r\nthe supply chain is well developed and stocks are plentiful, he said. That will\r\neventually mean lower production costs for its SylPro feed ingredient, which is\r\nmade from a single-cell yeast that feeds on sugars derived from the wood.

“We are sensitive that we need to be at a specific price\r\npoint to be competitive to other protein ingredients," he said. "Our\r\neconomics are built on being competitive with existing feed ingredients without\r\nnecessarily having to be at a premium.”

Arbiom began life as a contract research organization, he\r\nsaid. It has developed extensive expertise in "biomass\r\nfractionation", the process of breaking down the wood into a slurry\r\ncontaining carbon components and sugars, which are then fermented.

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The fermented sugars are then food for torula yeast, which\r\nbecomes the protein used as a fishmeal alternative. Torula yeast is already\r\nwidely used as a food additive.

Source : Undercurrent News