Protein from microalgae
There was also a lot of interest in a story about microalgae coproducts and how they may provide an inexpensive partial replacement ingredient for fishmeal in farmed tilapia.
Pallab Sarker’s research team at Dartmouth University published the results of an initial digestibility and growth study examining the use of a coproduct generated from the microalgae Nannochloropsis oculata as a fishmeal substitute in tilapia feed.
“Previously, we discovered that fish oil can be replaced 100% by a microalgae,” he told FeedNavigator. “We achieved the success to replace fish oil, now we have to think about if fishmeal can be replaced with microalgae – we tried to replace fish oil by another microalga Schizochytrium sp. but in that case, we replaced not whole cells of microalgae but with a co-product – what is left after oil extraction.”
The initial study found that the coproduct was able to replace about 33% of the fishmeal while maintaining growth and fish performance, said Sarker. “But, if you want to [replace] higher level 80%-100%, then we need to treat it with enzymes to break down to the anti-nutritional elements,” he added.
