KnipBio announces success with third single-cell protein product
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Dr Neil Auchterlonie The crucial future of fishmeal
ttending the GAA’s GOAL conference in Guayaquil, Ecuador, recently, brought back into focus the large amount of effort that is being put into the promotion of novel ingredients for aquafeeds, largely at the expense of the materials that have supported the development of the sector, i.e. fishmeal and fish oil. There is a lot of excitement in conferences such as the GAA’s GOAL event, about some of these possible new ingredients, with liberal use of the word “innovation” in the discussions. IFFO’s position on the novel ingredients sector is clear. IFFO recognises the need for more volume of ingredients to meet the growing requirement for more aquafeed, in turn to support additional aquaculture production. With an annual finite supply of approximately five million tonnes of fishmeal, and a little under one million tonnes of fish oil, growth will not come in the production of these ingredients to any marked degree. Although, as a side note, it is interesting to note that there are still opportunities for the collection of more processing byproduct material from fisheries, and that with the development of aquaculture there will be more raw material available through that sector as well. No, the production of fishmeal and fish oil is unlikely to change significantly over time, and the feed industry will have to look to some of these other ingredients to make up the shortfall in volume that is a reality of the situation. In all this it is, however, important to realise that fishmeal and fish oil will continue to be the foundation for future aquafeeds, despite the communications to the contrary. Consistent use of the term “replacement” does nothing to help this message, and it is revealing that in private many of the contacts in these companies agree that the reality is “supplementation” of fishmeal and fish oil rather than replacement, but that message seems to change a little in the public arena. There are very good reasons why fishmeal and fish oil importance will be maintained or even enhanced, all related to the nutritional values and contributions made by fishmeal and fish oil. Fishmeal is the gold standard reference aquafeed ingredient for protein so it is perhaps natural that the novel (protein) ingredients would set their stall out in comparison to the marine environment’s finest feed material. The situation with the providers of new sources of long chain omega-3 fatty acids is somewhat different in that the supply of EPA and DHA is known to be a very real constraint to the development of the salmon farming industry with these being essential fatty acids in Atlantic salmon nutrition. It is also known that the western diet is largely deficient in omega-3 consumption, and with more science emphasising the nutritional benefits of EPA and DHA likely to appear over time, it is important for the supplementation message to be promoted by us all. Salmon are an ideal vehicle for the delivery of EPA and DHA. In order to support and make a success of the tremendous opportunity that exists for continued aquaculture growth and protein supply for the global population we really do need to all work together to make best use of the available ingredients.
Dr Neil Auchterlonie is the Technical Director at IFFO. He has managed aquaculture and fisheries science programmes in both public and private sectors. Academically he holds a BSc in Marine and Freshwater Biology from Stirling University, a MSc in Applied Fish Biology from the University of Plymouth, and a PhD in Aquaculture (halibut physiology) from Stirling University.
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assachusetts-based biotech company, KnipBio, who are currently developing alternative proteins for the animal feed industry, announced the fruitful completion of a feed efficacy trial on Atlantic salmon using KBM500, the company’s astaxanthin-rich protein. This marks the third version of KnipBio’s single cell protein (SCP) to pass initial quality and efficacy trials. Larry Feinberg, CEO of KnipBio, says, “to make this feed trial possible, we had to first scale production of KBM500 to the interim manufacturing stage. This marks the third KBM product to be scaled to this size and is further demonstration of the maturity and reproducibility of the KnipBio Meal manufacturing technology.” The feed trials showed no significant difference in feed conversion ratio or weight gain for Atlantic salmon fed diets containing five percent, 10 percent, and 15 percent KBM500, when compared to fish fed a standard diet. The trials were conducted over a period of 28 days by an independent, third-party research organisation. Feinberg continued, “we have now completed successful efficacy trials with three different protein products: KBM203, which is rich in prebiotic compounds, our high-protein KBM324 ingredient, and now KBM500. “The tests have been conducted on commercially important finfish and crustacean species including salmonids, yellowtail, and Pacific white shrimp, and demonstrated KBM-based aquafeed diets offer equal or better performance than fishmeal. “We view this is strong evidence that KBM is highly suitable as a protein replacement for soy or fishmeal in an aquafeed, while at the same time providing additional functional feed benefits. I am increasingly encouraged by these trial results, particularly in the area of reduced animal mortality and overall growth performance.” This recent palatability test is part of KnipBio’s ongoing efforts to advance it’s Proteinplus nutritional platform technology. Approximately 20 trials have successfully confirmed the effect of KBM on growth rates and feed conversion ratios and have also confirmed KBM has no discernible effect on fish’s taste, colour, or texture.
10 | November 2018 - International Aquafeed