Press release: Unibio’s Shrimp Trial Shows 75% Improved Survival Rate
Diets with Uniprotein® increase productivity & profits.
Unibio, a leading sustainable protein company, is pleased to announce that an initial trial of its single-cell protein, Uniprotein®, on whiteleg shrimp (Penaeus vannamei) has been conducted and delivered 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 Tecnología Agroalimentarias 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, Uniprotein® 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 profits”.
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 Uniprotein® 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 shrimp and 7 different diets with various percentages of Uniprotein® replacing fishmeal.
**Ends**
For more information please visit: www.unibio.dk or contact:
| Unibio A/S
Trine Leth, Head of Communications/Kommunikationsdirektør
|
+ 45 23 23 1965 |
| St Brides Partners Limited
Ana Ribeiro / Isabel de Salis/Max Bennett
|
+44 (0) 7980 321 505
|
Notes to Editors
About Unibio
Unibio, the world’s leading sustainable protein company, uses microbial fermentation to convert methane into high quality and sustainable protein for fish and animal feed. It is Unibio’s 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.
About the Instituto de Investigación y Tecnologia Agroalimentarias (IRTA)
IRTA is a research institute owned by the Government of Catalonia ascribed to the Ministry of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda. It is regulated by Law 04/2009, passed by the Catalan Parliament on 15 April 2009, and it is ruled by private regulations. It takes part of the CERCA centres system of Catalonia. For more information visit: https://www.irta.cat/en/irta/about-us/
About Valuewaste EU
The VALUEWASTE project aims to demonstrate an integration system for urban biowaste valorization through the development of three processing lines. This will lead to the generation of crucial and high-value products for the EU, whose supply faces the following challenges:
- Protein – The EU imports 77% of the required proteins for feed or food supplies. There is a need for alternative sustainable sources of proteins for humans and animals.
- Biobased Fertilizers – Food supply depends on the availability of soil nutrients for EU agriculture, such as phosphorous and nitrogen. However phosphorous sources are depleting while the production of nitrogen-based fertilizers is highly energy demanding. For more information visit: https://valuewaste.eu/
VALUEWASTE has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 818312.
About U-Loop® technology
The Unibio U-Loop® technology is a continuous-flow fermentation process allowing for a high conversion-rate, the high utilization 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.
About Uniprotein®
Uniprotein® has a 70% protein content that compares with high-value proteins like super-prime fishmeal and highly concentrated soy products. The Uniprotein® product provides proteinic nutrient in animal feed. In pellet form, Uniprotein® 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.
Uniprotein® – a superior protein product:
- a high protein content – above 70%
- a sustainable (alternative) protein
- usable as a direct supplement in animal feed compounds
- a highly digestible feed
- industrial scale production ready for roll-out
- single-cell protein inside Uniprotein® approved for animal and fish feed in the EU
- amino acid composition similar to fishmeal or soybean meal
- non-GMO
- free from pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, antibiotics
- easily traceable
- uniform product quality
- a long shelf life
- comes as powder or pellets
- Uniprotein® will be sold through a network of distributors, as well as directly to large key accounts around the world.
