This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop a process to produce high quality soy protein concentrate (HQSPC) as a fish meal replacement in aquaculture feeds, while providing a binding agent for extrusion and an immunostimulant for disease control. The proposed innovation is a microbially-based process to economically produce HQSPC by converting soybean carbohydrates into protein, yielding the exopolysaccharide for pellet binding and the immunoprophylactic for enhanced health. Our preliminary data indicates that the proposed microbe will metabolize individual carbohydrates in soybeans. To demonstrate technical and commercial feasibility, extrusion and enzymatic saccharification will be used to solubilize carbohydrates in soybean white flake, followed by incubation with the gum-producing microbe and recovery of solids for use in yellow perch feeding trials.
The broader commercial impacts of this research include the development of a plant-based protein source to replace fishmeal in aquaculture production systems. Increased demand for fish protein and reduced wild-captured fish has facilitated rapid growth of the aquaculture industry. This growth has dramatically increased the demand for fish meal, the primary component in aquaculture feeds, causing overexploitation of this resource and rapidly escalating prices up to $1,800/ton. There is a considerable market opportunity for a high quality, economical plant derived protein concentrate to completely replace fish meal in aquaculture feeds, thus providing broad impact. Successful development and testing of HQSPC that provides desirable growth rates and conversion efficiencies will be of commercial interest to international aquaculture feed manufacturers, as well as commercial aquaculture production facilities.
Award #1142828 A global increase in the demand for fish protein and a decline in wild-captured fish have facilitated the rapid growth of the aquaculture industry, which is currently growing at a rate of greater than 9% per year. This has dramatically increased the demand for fishmeal, the primary component in aquaculture and other animal feeds, causing overexploitation and rapidly escalating fishmeal prices, and a considerable market opportunity for a high quality, economical plant protein concentrate to completely replace fishmeal. DAST, LLC dba Prairie AquaTech, specializing in new approaches to aquaculture feeds and health supplements, has developed a patent-pending system to produce high quality soy protein concentrate (HQ-SPC) as a complete fishmeal replacement to reduce the use of marine-derived resources in aquaculture feeds. HQ-SPC will replace more expensive natural resources that are currently being used in aquaculture and other animal feeds. As outlined in our NSF SBIR Phase I and Phase IB objectives, process and product optimization was completed to remove anti-nutritional factors and further reduce the production cost of HQ-SPC. Process conditions, such as pH, ethanol precipitation, and saccharification, have been modified with positive growth performance and lower production costs. Multiple large scale processing trials have been conducted in 575 and 4,000 L bioreactors, achieving solids loading rates up to 13% and a final product that contains 65% protein, essentially equivalent to fishmeal. Based on the mass balance and energy requirements, the company is estimating total production costs at pilot scale of $1,200 per ton. Sufficient quantities of HQ-SPC were produced for internal and commercial yellow perch feeding trials. Two, 4,000 L processing trials were used to generate a first generation HQ-SPC product, which was subsequently processed into a final feed formulation containing 42% protein and 9% lipid. The final feed formulation was tested in both internal feeding trials and commercial feeding trials by a large yellow perch producer. The primary animal protein sources in the control diet, fishmeal and chicken meal, were replaced with HQ-SPC in the test diet. Results of the commercial feeding trial highlight growth rates were not significantly different up to Week Four; a slight difference was observed in Week Six, which is being studied. Similarly, survival rates have not differed between fish on the fishmeal control diet and fish on the HQ-SPC test diet. Growth rates at 70 days of the internal feeding trial were not significantly different between the fishmeal control diet (21.7%) and the HQ-SPC test diet (19.7%). However, survival rates were significantly higher for the HQ-SPC test diet (100%) compared to the fishmeal control diet (75%). The difference in survival rates may be attributable to an increase in immunological health as a result of the test diet ingredient. An innate immunological survey will be assessed upon completion of the feeding trial. Feed conversion rates of the HQ-SPC test diet also showed an improvement over the control diet; however, consumption was slightly higher for the fishmeal control compared to the HQ-SPC test diet. Currently, six different experimental HQ-SPC products are being evaluated for fishmeal replacement applications. These products include HQ-SPC from extruded versus non-extruded soybean white flake, HQ-SPC from extruded versus non-extruded soybean meal, and HQ-SPC from genetically modified soybean meal versus non-genetically modified soybean meal. Experimental trials are aimed at further reducing the process costs associated with the production of HQ-SPC, while providing a high quality, nutrient-rich protein source for aquaculture diets. Digestibility studies for yellow perch using the products outlined above have been completed, with similar feeding trials in rainbow trout beginning in July. These trials demonstrated that HQ-SPC from non-extruded and non-genetically modified soybean meal provided the highest apparent digestibility coefficients for crude protein, energy, and essential amino acids. Growth performance trials in yellow perch using these products tested for digestibility will begin in July. These feeding trials will determine relative performance of the fish, including growth, survival, feed consumption, protein and feed efficiencies, along with intestinal and immune responses to fishmeal replacement with HQ-SPC. Prairie AquaTech, through its NSF SBIR Phase II project, will complete development and continue the commercialization of HQ-SPC, a sustainable source of plant-based feed ingredients, to support the rapidly expanding aquaculture industry.
