Efficacy of wood-based protein for aquaculture feed demonstrated

Study in juvenile salmon supports prior research in hybrid striped bass.

Arbiom, an agricultural biotechnology company developing solutions to convert wood into food, announced the success of a recently completed scientific study evaluating its high-quality alternative protein ingredient (SylPro) for juvenile Atlantic salmon feed.

The study, conducted by Matis Icelandic Food & Biotech R&D as part of the SYLFEED project, was designed to demonstrate the nutritional performance of Arbiom’s yeast single-cell protein (SCP) product in comparison with conventional plant and animal protein sources.

The SCP product is produced from wood through Arbiom’s process that integrates fractionation and bioconversion technologies to efficiently convert wood residues into fermentable substrates for microorganism production through pretreatment and fermentation processes, the company said. The final product is a dried yeast that may be used as a nutritional protein source for use in aquaculture and other animal feeds.

“These findings indicate that SylPro can be used to replace fish meal or plant-based proteins in feed for juvenile Atlantic salmon, a crucial developmental stage, and deliver equivalent nutritional performance as conventional protein sources up to 20% inclusion level,” Matis doctoral candidate Alexandra Leeper said.

In the study, Atlantic salmon feeds were formulated with SCP as a complement to or replacement for fish meal and plant-based proteins at various inclusion rates. The study was designed to evaluate the product’s nutritional performance in terms of bodyweight gain as well as its effects on the gut microbiome, which researchers measured over the course of a five-week trial period.

“SylPro represents a scientifically backed new protein source for aquaculture feed producers and farmers, which outperforms current commercial protein sources,” Matis senior animal nutritionists Dr. Jon Arnason said.

The study results showed no statistical difference in bodyweight gain between the control diet and fish fed SCP up to the 20% inclusion level, Arbion said. Additionally, there were no differences in fish mortality across treatments.

These results support the results from previous trials evaluating the product for use in hybrid striped bass.

“This represents another critical milestone in Arbiom’s path to commercializing the SylPro product as we continue to validate its efficacy across multiple animal feed applications,” Arbiom chief executive officer Marc Chevrel said.