Unibio, a leading sustainable protein company, announced that in an initial trial of its single-cell protein, Uniprotein®, on whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) , showed up to 75% improved survival rate compared to a control group fed with fishmeal.
In shrimp production, mortality, which can be as high as 80%, is a major challenge and an economical and ethical problem for the producer. Accordingly, Unibio is undertaking a series of trials depicting an improving survival rate, substituting high-quality protein fishmeal with its own sustainable protein, Uniprotein®.
Initial tests, conducted by the Instituto de Investigación y TecnologÃa Agroalimentarias (IRTA) in Spain as part of the Valuewaste EU project, confirmed that substituting fishmeal with Uniprotein increased survival rates. With a 100% inclusion of fishmeal the survival rate was 37% and by substituting all fishmeal with Uniprotein, the survival rate increased to 67% – an improvement of 75%. Additionally, the protein performs as well as fishmeal on feed conversion ratio. The results indicate that the shrimp production industry could improve productivity and profits by replacing fishmeal with Uniprotein.
Commenting on the trial, David Henstrom, CEO of Unibio said: “We are delighted with the positive results of this trial, which confirmed the viability of Uniprotein as a replacement for fishmeal in whiteleg shrimp. Importantly, it has shown that Uniprotein can increase the survival rate of shrimp by about 75%, which could potentially transform the shrimp industry by improving sales and increasing profitsâ€.
Improved Immune Response
Based on results from the initial tests, a challenge trial with Vibrio harveyi was conducted to induce a stressor to the shrimp and investigate if this singe-cell protein affected the immune response during the challenge. Results from this trial showed that Uniprotein supplemented feeds – with 100% replacement of fishmeal – decreased the mortality from 16% to 2%. Such results indicate that Uniprotein® triggers an interesting immune response that needs further investigation.
Feeding Trial & Conclusion
Unibio’s initial nutritional trial, which followed the lifecycle of a shrimp and was conducted over a five-month period, comprised 24 200L tanks of water connected to a RAS system each with 100 post larvae and 7 different diets with various percentages of Uniprotein® replacing fishmeal.
Unibio uses microbial fermentation to convert methane into high quality and sustainable protein for fish and animal feed. The mission to deliver sustainable protein for livestock, aquaculture, and the food of the future. Unibio’s technology is highly resource-efficient and sustainable. The process replicates the same process that happens every day in nature. Unibio is rolling out the technology globally. In October, it announced its strategic licensing partner, the Doha-based industrial biotech investor Gulf Biotech, has reached the final stage before the construction of the first single-cell protein (‘SCP’) plant in Qatar by entering the Front-end Engineering Design Stage (‘FEED’).
Uniprotein has a 70% protein content that compares with high-value proteins like super-prime fishmeal and highly concentrated soy products. In pellet form, it has 11% water content, 70% protein content in dry matter and 85% digestibility for salmonids (and slightly lower for most other animals, as with other protein sources), yielding digestible protein content of 53%. This means that 1kg of Uniprotein® yields 530g of digestible protein. As a single-cell protein inside, Uniprotein is approved for animal and fish feed in the EU. It is non-GMO.
The Unibio U-Loop® technology is a continuous-flow fermentation process allowing for a high conversion-rate, the high utilisation of gases and economical production. Through its proprietary process, the gases are converted to protein that is subsequently treated and purified to a nutritious, high-quality protein. Unibio owns the intellectual property rights to the U-Loop® technology.
