Global consumption of fish is constantly increasing. A large proportion of fish and seafood already comes from aquaculture. The fish feed required for rearing these consists mainly of fishmeal, which is obtained from small pelagic fish, such as sardines and anchovies, which are mainly caught en masse in the upwelling areas of the continents, particularly off South America (Peru and Chile). However, many fish stocks are endangered. Accordingly, the quantities of fish landed have not increased since the end of the 1990s. In order to be able to meet the protein requirements and fish consumption of a rapidly growing world population in the future, to relieve the pressure on fish stocks and to counteract the sharp rise in the price of fishmeal, a rethink is needed.
Although fish feed today consists of significantly less fishmeal, vegetable protein sources (e.g. from soya and or maize) have still not been able to replace it completely. This is often due to anti-nutritive substances (ANF) and the amino acid profile in plant protein.
Rapeseed has been the focus of scientific attention for some time now. Rapeseed has an excellent amino acid profile. Unlike fishmeal, protein-rich residues from rapeseed, known as rapeseed cake, which are left over after oil pressing, are also much cheaper and ubiquitously available in Germany. It is also a renewable raw material. Unfortunately, however, rapeseed protein is strongly linked to ANFs. These affect the flavour of the protein and impair its biological availability, both for humans and for fish. However, initial scientific results have shown that rapeseed protein purified at great effort and expense as a basis in fish feed can lead to growth rates comparable to those of fishmeal-based feed.
In recent decades, several alternatives to fishmeal, both of plant and animal origin, have already been tested for various fish species. What is important for the substitute protein source is availability in large quantities, a favourable price and the retention of various important ingredients. Rapeseed fulfils these requirements. However, one challenge for the use of rapeseed as a fishmeal substitute is the presence of antinutritive substances. These provide a bitter, pungent flavour that fish do not like, causing them to consume less food and grow less well. The aim of the OpRaVAF project is to develop an optimised rapeseed protein to completely replace fishmeal. The novel production of a nutritive high-quality rapeseed protein product represents an immense added value for a bio-based economy. Replacing fishmeal not only makes sense from an ecological point of view, the cost of fishmeal has also risen sharply over the last few decades. With a cost-effective alternative, money can be saved on the purchase of raw materials for animal feed. Furthermore, the production of this protein product from a waste product of the oil industry provides another high-quality and sustainable raw material for supplying the global population with nutrient-rich food.
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