पोल्ट्री फीड के लिए वैकल्पिक प्रोटीन
The poultry sector has experienced difficult times during the last two years because of poor feed ingredient availability and the increasing price of protein sources, a major concern nowadays and which has been further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The cost of poultry feed is a major limitation, with protein sources being the most expensive ingredient added in feed formulations representing over 50% of the total production cost. The sector recently started going towards new alternative protein sources as well as sustainable sources of energy.
25-40% of the feed is based on protein sources while 50-65% is based on energy in poultry feed and it's high time to find alternatives to current resources to keep the prices under control.
Alternative protein is the next big thing since the commodity prices have shot up recently. These are proteins derived from non-conventional sources such as plants, insects, micro-organisms etc.
Alternative protein market for animal feed depends on some of the necessary criteria like supply, availability, and nutritional value of suitable alternative protein sources. Some of the alternative protein sources include single-cell protein like fungal protein, algae protein, and yeast protein, and insect protein.
Microalgae as Promising Alternative Ingredient in Poultry Feed
The protein, carbohydrate and fat content of the algae is just as good or even better when compared to conventional feed sources and because of this, algae are considered as a solid candidate and can be used as an alternative protein source.
The application of algae in animal feed seems promising but protein content in microalgae differs from species to species, like 70% in Spirulina, 40% in red algae, 20% in green algae and almost 10% in brown algae.
They are mainly considered as an important source of omega-three fatty acids, as well as protein, having microelements, vitamins and antioxidants much higher than other land plants and act as a good source of pigmentation agent for skin and egg yolks.
Microalgae being unicellular, photosynthetic aquatic plants are nowadays introduced into poultry diets because of their antibacterial, antiviral and anti-oxidative effects.
Microalgae, mainly Spirulina and Chlorella can be successfully used as a feed ingredient in poultry nutrition showing beneficial effects on meat and egg quality, and in regards to performance indices and immune function.
Microalgae can be efficiently used in poultry nutrition to enhance the pigmentation and nutritional value of meat and eggs, as well as partial replacement of conventional dietary protein sources.
The high protein content of algal species can influence the color of the yolk and are beneficial for the fatty acid as well as amino acid composition of the eggs.
Before adding in the poultry feed, the digestibility, as well as the taste of the product, must be checked. Evans et. al., (2015) reported that 16% of Spirulina without any negative effect on the performance of chicks can be included in the diet as it has an energy value equal to 90% of the energy of corn as well as containing a high level of crude protein and essential amino acids.
Chlorella is freshwater and unicellular green algae and is very expensive to be used as a choice protein source for poultry. However, even very low dietary levels of Chlorella may beneficially affect poultry performance due to the presence of many biologically active substances. According to Combs (1952), 10% dried Chlorella is a rich source of certain nutrients, i.e. carotene, riboflavin and vitamin B12, when incorporated into the diet.
Other microalgae Micractinium could be a useful protein source for broilers, and supplementing up to a 6% in the diet had no negative effect on growth performance as suggested by Lipstein and Hurwitz (1981). Incorporation of Staurosira into the broilers’ diet indicated that it may be used to substitute 7.5% of soybean meal without any negative influence on performance or plasma and liver biomarkers.
Although different microalgal biomasses are diverse in their chemical composition, it is recommended to add a maximum of 10% algae in the poultry diets. Spirulina, Chlorella and other microalgae species may be used to increase the pigmentation and nutritional value of meat and eggs for human consumption, as well as to partially replace conventional protein sources, mainly soybean meal. The main objective is to find out how to efficiently put microalgal biomass to compound feed in order to get beneficial final products for the poultry.
Black Soldier Fly (BSF) Larvae: as alternative Protein Source
Insects have been identified as an alternative novel ingredient and more sustainable source of protein in animal feed, which could be used to combat the food security crisis identified by the FAO. Insects being a rich source of high-quality protein and essential amino acids is equivalent to that of fish meal; they grow very fast and their feed conversion ratio is very high.
One of the reasons that insects are considered to be a viable alternative source of protein is that their production requires comparably fewer resources than more traditional sources of protein in poultry feed.
The protein content of insect meal varies between 40-60% depending on the stage of development of insects even in the same insect species. Animal-based protein has a better amino acid profile than that of plant-based protein, so there is a high focus on adding insect meal as the quality protein source in the feed sector.
As feed ingredients are getting expensive and often in direct or indirect competition with human food, so the use of feed based on insects, like larvae of black soldier fly is an attractive option in poultry feed. Despite the perceived enormous potential to use insect protein in feed, the technology is required to mechanize the production to produce constant and high quantities of insects which is essential to create an economically viable industry.
BSF larvae have been found to support better growth in chicken birds when added as a component of compound poultry feed. BSFL are rich in protein (40 to 44%) with a better amino acid profile compared to soybean meal and used as a replacement for fish meal (63-68% protein), soybean meal (40% protein) in poultry feed, as it can provide high-value feedstuff.
BSFL are also rich in fat, has high dry matter content (35 to 45%) and are rich in lysine, Ca, and P and has extreme variability depending on the chemical compositions of their rearing substrates.
Black Soldier Fly (BSF) larvae are impeccable converters of feedstuff/manure into valuable biomass which is 40+% protein and 30+% fat, and is used as a resource for poultry farms. We are aiming to produce this insect protein in bulk, to meet the increasing protein demand of the animal feed industry as the production of insect meal requires very little space as compared to soybean production.
We are doing R&D in Vellore, Tamil Nadu on BSF larvae project by optimizing the physiological parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, and light intensity that stimulates mating and oviposition, so that these insects produce at their best. In our research trials, 20-25% by weight of organic food matter is converted into larvae. We are setting a 300 ton per month food waste to an insect processing unit in Jaipur to manufacture insect protein meal and high-quality manure for transformed waste.
To ensure food security, it is important to adopt a sustainable food system and as a result, insects will be used more intensively as a protein source in the future. Increasing compound feed business coupled with growing poultry production across the globe are expected to have a positive impact on the alternative protein industry for animal feed for the times to come.
Authors:
Dr. Neelam Chaudhary
Category Manager, Agri Commodities
PR & Research Team
Krimanshi Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Email: www.krimanshi.com