Production of High Protein Feeds from Brewer's Spent Grain to Replace Fishmeal in Aquaculture Diets

View the project final report

Commodities

• Animals: fish

Practices

• Animal Production: aquaculture, feed formulation
• Sustainable Communities: local and regional food systems, values-based supply chains

The limited supply and high price of fishmeal is emerging as a big challenge to the sustainable growth of the U.S. aquaculture industry. Thus, there is a need for the industry to seek alternative feed sources for aquaculture production. The long-term goal of this proposed research is to produce a sustainable and cost effective alternative to fishmeal in shrimp feeds to improve the growth of the aquaculture industry. This will be accomplished through a research plan with two objectives: 1. develop an economically feasible fractionation process to produce high-protein feed from brewery waste-brewer's spent grain; and 2. demonstrate the effectiveness of high-protein feed to replace fishmeal via shrimp feeding trials and shrimp quality evaluations. The high-protein feed will be produced by separating proteins and other nutrients from fibers in brewer's spent grain using an enzymatic assisted fractionation process. The fractionation process will be optimized by screening and selecting most suitable enzymes and identifying the optimal process conditions for maximal high-protein feed from brewer's spent grain. Shrimp feeding trials will entail replacing fishmeal with high-protein feed at 0, 10, 30, 50, and 70 percent levels in experimental diets. Key shrimp production parameters including survival rate, specific growth rates, and feed conversion ratio will be used as metrics for evaluation. If successful, this work will contribute to decreasing the reliance of aquaculture industry on fishmeal and specifically reduce the shrimp production costs. Additionally, the outcomes of this research will benefit the brewery industry by providing an alternative way of managing and using brewer's spent grain as a value-added product.

• Develop an economically feasible fractionation process to produce high-protein feed from brewer's spent grain.
• Demonstrate the effectiveness of high-protein feed to replace fishmeal via shrimp feeding trials.