Agricultural-biotechnology company Arbiom, that converts wood into a high-protein ingredient called SylPro, has announced the success of a recently completed scientific study evaluating it for juvenile Atlantic salmon feed.
In a press release, Arbiom announced that 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 protein product in comparison with conventional plant and animal protein sources.
SylPro is produced from wood through Arbiom’s process, which integrates fractionation and bioconversion technologies to efficiently convert wood residues into fermentable substrates for micro-organism production through pre-treatment and fermentation processes. The final product is a dried yeast, which is nutritional protein source for use in aquafeed, and other animal feeds.
The agricultural-biotechnology company is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina and has company offices in Paris, France, and also Norton, Virginia, where it operates a pilot plant.
“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 percent inclusion level,” said PhD candidate Alexandra Leeper.
In the study, Atlantic salmon feeds were formulated with Arbiom’s high-protein ingredient as a complement to or replacement for fishmeal and plant-based proteins at various inclusion rates. The study was designed to evaluate the product’s nutritional performance in terms of body weight 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”, said Matis Senior Animal Nutritionist Dr. Jon Arnason.
Arbiom wrote that the study results showed no statistical difference in body weight gain for SylPro compared to the control diet up to the 20 percent inclusion level. Additionally, there were no differences in fish mortality across treatments, it added.
“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,” said Arbiom CEO Marc Chevrel.
