Recent advances in single cell protein use as a feed ingredient in aquaculture

The Application of Single-Cell Ingredients in Aquaculture Feeds—A Review

“…Storebakken et al [106] examined the serial-inclusion of a Methylococcus based SCP in the diets of and found that when included above 99 g/kg that there was a significant decline in weight. Despite this decline in weight, there was an increase in body lipid content similar to what was observed by Kaushik and Luquet [5], with rainbow trout. However, there was a clear adaptation of the fish to the SCP over the 12-months of the study.…”

“…Digestibility of a Methylococcus based SCP when fed to either O. mykiss or S. salar both resulting in protein digestibilities of 88% when included as a similar inclusion level [8,62,106]. Some slight differences were noted in the protein digestibility of Methyophilus SCP versus Methylococcus based SCP (79-84% vs. 82-90% respectively) [5,62]. Despite the intrinsically higher level of digestibility of bacterial SCP, some work has been undertaken on various processing methods to improve the digestibility of these products.…”

“…The use of such resources as feed ingredients is not new with studies dating back to the 1970s reporting the application of each in the feeds of aquaculture species [1][2][3][4]. However, the current potential utility of these ingredients is considerable and growing [5]. They are now being used as protein/amino acid sources, omega-3 sources and sources of bioactive molecules like astaxanthin and peptidoglycans [6,7].…”

“…Most activity in recent years has been in the production of protein and omega-3 sources from these materials as increasing competition drives up the prices for these nutrients in the global market place [5,[8][9][10]. However, the different array of products becoming available in the market, produced and processed using different techniques and strategies, has also resulted in different nutritional qualities in those products [5,[11][12][13][14][15]. Additionally, the combination of all three microbial groups into microbial bioflocs and aggregates is another emerging area attracting some interest as another way of producing such SCI resources [16,17].…”

“…Additionally, the combination of all three microbial groups into microbial bioflocs and aggregates is another emerging area attracting some interest as another way of producing such SCI resources [16,17]. For an overview of the various production systems used and current state of commercial development, see the review of Jones et al [5]. This present review, however, focuses on the various levels of nutritional assessment of the current range of single-cell protein (SCP) and single-cell oil (SCO) products, including some of the various applications of bioflocs as SCI.…”