ProTyton, a single cell protein ingredient for Atlantic salmon feed, is being scaled up.
The US-based White Dog Labs (WDL) has signed a collaboration agreement with Midwest Renewable Energy (MRE) and will locate its first ProTyton plant within Midwest Renewable Energy’s ethanol site in Sutherland, Nebraska. The news opens up opportunities for WDL to potentially expand to other ethanol factories.
The company is one of a wave of labs who are developing sources of protein from cells of microorganisms such as yeast, fungi, algae, and bacteria, which have less of a burden on the environment.
Microorganisms
WDL has developed and scaled up ProTyton, a single cell protein ingredient that exhibits upwards of 85wt% crude protein and over 40wt% essential amino acids. The ingredient fermentation is an anaerobic process that is similar to ethanol fermentation.
The company says the product is highly digestible, performs well in multiple aquaculture diets, and demonstrated health benefits beyond nutrition. They added that independent testing demonstrated that its inclusion in Atlantic salmon feed reduces the overall cost of diets while maintaining performance.
Other ethanol plants
The plant will initially produce 3,000 metric tons/year of it with shipments expected in Q4 2019. The plant will expand to 30,000 tons/year as early as 2021.
“Having demonstrated ProTyton benefits, we are now responding to customer requests and accelerating our time to market via the collaboration with MRE,” said WDL’s CEO, Dr. Bryan Tracy. “Our goal is to facilitate easy duplication of ProTyton production at other ethanol plants that might be interested in diversification.”
