Microencapsulated diets to improve bivalve shellfish aquaculture

Abstract

Aquaculture is the fastest growing food sector and feeds over 3 billion people. Bivalve shellfish aquaculture makes up 25% of global aquaculture production and is worth annually US$19 billion, but continued growth is currently limited by suboptimal diets and limited tools for disease control. New advances in microencapsulation technology could provide an effective way to overcome these biological limitations. This study demonstrated that a new formulation of microencapsulated diet known as BioBullets could be ingested by a commercially farmed bivalve; the blue mussel Mytilus edulis. Microparticles could be captured by mussels with similar efficiency to natural foods. Microparticles too large for ingestion were rejected in pseudofaeces. Microparticles were successfully ingested and broken down by the gut. Further work is needed to assess the impact of BioBullets diets on bivalve growth. There is now an exciting opportunity to tailor the composition of microencapsulated diets for specific applications to improve production output and efficiency in the commercial bivalve shellfish industry.

Influence of hatchery rich‐carbohydrate diet on the oyster Crassostrea corteziensis (Hertlein, 1951) farming

“…The production of microalgae requires facilities and labour that represent 35% of the total operation cost of the hatchery (Mazón‐Suástegui, Parres‐Haro, Ruíz‐Ruíz, Rodríguez‐Jaramillo, & Saucedo, ); moreover, high variable nutritional values depend on many culture factors (López‐Elías et al, ), making it difficult to establish a well‐defined diet. Despite microalgae could not be totally replaced in bivalve hatchery production, many studies have successfully reduced their use by adding lipid emulsions (Ehteshami, Romano, Ramezani‐Fard, & Hoseinzadeh‐Sahafi, ), microencapsulated diets (Willer & Aldridge, ) and microparticulated food as cereal flours (López‐Carvallo et al, ; Mazón‐Suástegui, Ruíz‐ Ruíz, Parres‐Haro, & Saucedo, ).…”

Microencapsulated diets to improve growth and survivorship in juvenile European flat oysters (Ostrea edulis)

“…While Willer & Aldridge (2017) demonstrated a proof-of-concept for microencapsulated diets they did not quantify the effect of BioBullets diets on bivalve growth. Our study here aimed to assess the impact of microencapsulated feed on juvenile growth in O. edulis .…”

“…Recently it was shown that a novel form of microcapsules known as BioBullets (BioBullets Ltd, Cambridge, UK) could be digested by the blue mussel Mytilus edulis (Willer and Aldridge, 2017). The microcapsules can be produced in large quantities, are stable for long term storage, and have highly customisable physical characteristics and contents (Aldridge et al, 2006; Costa et al, 2011).…”

Vitamin Bullets. Microencapsulated Feeds to Fortify Shellfish and Tackle Human Nutrient Deficiencies

“…Novel microencapsulated feeds developed through recent chemical engineering innovations can provide a delivery vehicle for micronutrients to bivalves (24). It has already been demonstrated that this form of microcapsules are digestible by bivalves and can improve bivalve growth and sexual maturation [ (25,26); Willer and Aldridge, in review]. Mass production is simple and cost-effective (24,26), and the dry microcapsules have shelf lives in excess of one year in any sealed dry container (e.g., mylar bags) thus circumventing conventional feed wastage costs (27).…”