Horizon Protein, a spin out from
Heriot-Watt University, is working with the Scottish malt whisky industry to
produce a low cost locally sourced sustainable fish (salmon) feed from
recovered barley protein. Currently, the UK has a high dependency on
imports for feed ingredients, with roughly 60-90 per cent of feed ingredients
being imported, said Dr Aboubakry Diallo, from Horizon Proteins, during his
talk at Aquaculture UK. Finding a more sustainable and local
alternative through underused proteins has therefore been Horizon's
vision. The Scottish malt whisky industry produces
225 million ipa malt whisky each year and is valued at 3.8 billion a year. From
this production there is 30,000 tonnes of protein that can be used. In order to recover the protein, Horizon
has a patented process whereby the leftover pot ale from whisky
production is separated into yeast for feed, protein for fish food (barley) and
a carbohydrate rich stream. Dr Diallo noted that there are
important criteria when selecting feed ingredients. These are: - Nutrient levels
- Digestibility
- cost
The barley protein extract does well in all
of these areas. Firstly, it has a high protein content of 90-95 per cent DM. In
comparison, protein content of soybean is 50 per cent and fish meal 69 per
cent. In terms of digestibility, barley protein
is 99 per cent. For fish meal, digestibility is 71 per cent and soybean meal 70
per cent. It is also a high purity material that more
than meets the amino acid requirements of juvenile salmon and it also has
no negative effect of potential anti-nutrient factors. Recovered barley protein is therefore
nutritionally suitable, has a secure supply and consistent local production.
The recovery process has also proved to be financially viable, added Dr
Diallo. Dr Diallo added that the
first protein sales from the process are expected in 2017, after the full
scale plant begins operation in 2016/2017. Building on the success of working with the
Scottish malt whisky industry, Horizon is also looking to work with the
Scottish grain whisky industry and to apply its technology to recovering
protein from grasses.
Reproduced with permission. Copyright: The Fish Site
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