From College Station and North Carolina comes the news that Texas A&M researchers have completed a round of scientific evaluations of Arbiom\u2019s alternative protein ingredient for use in aquafeed.<\/p>\n
Studies come out every day, including studies on aquafeeds. What\u2019s different about this one is that Arbiom is making aquafeed out of scrap wood that you find in a typical pulp & paper operation. Pulp & paper is a distressed industry, and we are way, way, way short on enough fish feed \u2014 it\u2019s bad enough that we\u2019re starting to take down dams to preserve fish counts \u2014 dams that provide water and power to produce food.<\/p>\n
Scrap wood to food? What a lift in value, what a way to transform two crisis-level problems into a sustainable solution.<\/p>\n
The study results
\nAn initial trial assessing the material handling characteristics of SylPro suggest that it performs well in a range of extrusion conditions at varying inclusion levels in extruded feed. Results also highlighted additional functional binding properties conferred, which suggest SylPro could reduce the need for binding agents. The study concludes that Arbiom\u2019s protein ingredient behaves similar, or superior, to conventional protein ingredients in extruded feeds.<\/p>\n
In a second study, the nutritional performance of SylPro was evaluated in hybrid striped bass. Feeds were formulated with Arbiom\u2019s high-protein ingredient at various inclusion rates. Growth (body weight), body composition, nutrient digestibility and general gastrointestinal health were evaluated over the course of a 60-day period.<\/p>\n
The study results showed no differences in mortality or feed intake across all diets. There was no statistical difference in body weight gain or feed intake up to the 20 percent inclusion level of Arbiom\u2019s protein compared to the control diet. Further, SylPro showed an exceptional crude protein digestibility of 97%. These findings indicate that SylPro can be used to replace fish meal or plant-based proteins in hybrid striped bass diets and deliver equivalent nutritional performance as conventional protein sources up to 20 percent inclusion level.<\/p>\n
The product backstory
\nSylPro is a yeast single-cell protein, that is produced using wood-derived media in fermentation and final downstream processing to achieve appropriate properties as a viable replacement for fish meal or plant protein concentrates. Arbiom\u2019s product has been developed to solve the challenges of protein sourcing and gastrointestinal health for aquaculture and livestock producers.<\/p>\n
How do they do it?
\nIt\u2019s an already-approved yeast with a long history of safe use, Ricardo Ekmay, Vice President of Nutrition for Arbiom explained to The Digest. It\u2019s able to efficiently use both C5 and C6 sugars, and although work on rate and yield will continue, Arbiom says that already they are for the most part satisfied that the process will play out economically.<\/p>\n
So, will Mikey like it, Mikey the fish that is? After all, if we could just throw anything at fish and they\u2019d eat it, we\u2019d probably throw the same soy meal that cows love. They don\u2019t like it much.<\/p>\n
So, the trials are key and it\u2019s good news so far. More trials underway, and more results to share ultimately.<\/p>\n
What we like about this platform, especially, is that Arbiom can tailor a suite of products to meet changing demands and tastes. That\u2019s the on\/off we\u2019re looking for, as opposed to planting swaths of soymeal and seeing who we can feed it to, and taking a health hit or a weight gain hit where we have used a less-than-optimal soy mix.<\/p>\n
Right now, this is based on hardwoods, the kind we\u2019d see coming into a pulp mill, and the process would either be a bolt-on or a stand-alone facility. In the former, think partnership with a pulp mill. In the latter, think of buying scrap from a region replete with mills.<\/p>\n
The Single-cell protein backstory
\nWe\u2019ve been covering this closely, and will continue to do so, as more players are getting into advanced feeds.<\/p>\n
Conventional plant sugars have been a platform possibility for quite some time. The prices and competing needs for plant sugars have slowed down efforts. In recent years, Calysta has come along with a platform for converting methane to single-cell protein \u2014 transformatively interesting, and getting to scale now. The focal point is likely to be fossil natural gas for some time \u2014 biogas is definitely available but not as cheaply or as widely, so there have been sustainability questions over Calysta\u2019s progress, though the answer has to be that we need fish, and fish need food, in epic quantities, and we\u2019re going to have to get that affordably from somewhere, and growing SCP from methane sounds a whole lot better than making fish feed from grinding little fish into feed form.<\/p>\n
Not every SCP technology ever born has had bright success, this isn\u2019t easy science, which makes Arbiom one of a handful of companies to talk with about their progress. After all, this was the technology that sunk the Soviet Union, which you can read all about here.<\/p>\n
The yield story
\nArbiom is at early-stage and specifics on yield are not yet forthcoming. Our starting point is the two thirds of a hardwood consisting of hemicellulose and cellulose.<\/p>\n
The bonus benefit
\nFor many years, there\u2019s been the hope of making an animal feed \u2014 and more urgently, a fish feed \u2014 from lower cost resources and in a more industrial way where we can turn on and turn off manufacturing more immediately than traditional farming allows.<\/p>\n
Reaction from the stakeholders
\n\u201cThe results of these studies are a critical and promising step in validating the effectiveness of SylPro as we continue to scale-up Arbiom\u2019s Wood to Food platform and bring our first commercial product to the market,\u201d said Ricardo Ekmay, PhD, Vice President of Nutrition for Arbiom.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe SylPro will make a valuable contribution to addressing the challenges faced by aquaculture producers and feed formulators. The results from recent and future trials will continue to demonstrate science-backed performance of SylPro and accelerate our efforts to bring this superior protein source to the market,\u201d said Marc Chevrel, Arbiom CEO.<\/p>\n
The Bottom Line
\nIt\u2019s early days for Arbiom. What a promising step forward. Mikey the Fish likes it, it appears in the early data \u2014 or rather, it works well as a substitute for existing fish meals. And we sure need as much feed as we can get \u2014 after all, at the top of the food chain we better make sure that everything is going well at the bottom. Or as the engineer mentioned to the architect, with a good base you won\u2019t fall over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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