Alternative Protein for Fishmeal Replacement
Project Objectives
- Develop a cellulolytic consortium capable of hydrolysis of vegetable waste cellulose at high loadings to improve BSFL cellulose digestion and eliminate pathogens.
- Develop a secondary SSF of fermented vegetable waste to increase feedstock nutrition (Amino acids and Unsaturated Lipids) through co-culture with bacteria and yeast.
- Develop a vegetable waste fermentation process with consistent feedstock generation for fermentation by semi- continuous addition in SSF.
- Perform BSFL feeding trials to characterize the effect of different SSF treatments on larval performance.
Partners/collaborators:
BSF larvae are full of high-quality proteins and fats. These components make them ideal as animal feed for fishes, chickens, and other animals. Current BSF production uses specific food wastes such as malt, and not pure random food waste.
What Blue Aqua is striving to achieve is to process food waste using fermentation methods to create a suitable food source for the larvae to feed on. This will allow food waste of varying compositions and sources to be used, and also allows the larvae to digest the food waste more easily.
Food Waste Upcycling: Alternative protein for Fishmeal Replacement
Using natural waste reduction techniques and insects to tackle the fishmeal replacement conundrum in the aquaculture industry. The Group’s FoodTech arm is dedicated to creating sustainable protein for fishmeal replacement while being economical, land-efficient and complementary to the nutritional and health requirements of aquatic animals.
In every solution, we ensure that we keep the “big picture” in view — i.e., how does the specific solution fit into the overall aquaculture industry and beyond?
In every solution, we ensure that we keep the “big picture” in view — i.e., how does the specific solution fit into the overall aquaculture industry and beyond?
In our Singapore-based pilot, we are recycling food waste to feed black soldier flies, which are then processed into protein and combined with algae. By combining the two, we build a foundation for fishmeal replacement, to which other ingredients are added.
This is an important mission for Singapore, where less than 20% of the country’s food waste is recycled today. This bioconversion is a sustainable solution that will revolutionise the food industry of Singapore and the broader world.
Figure 1: Value chain with end-to-end traceability
Project Status
Currently, we are still in the process of trial testing using 3 different ways of processing the food waste.