EVALUATION OF A COMMERCIALLY-AVAILABLE SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE AS AN ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENT IN FEEDS FOR PACIFIC WHITE SHRIMP Litopenaeus vannamei

Jon Holt*
 
 The trū Shrimp Company
Balaton, MN 56115  
 Jon.Holt@trushrimpcompany.com
 

Changes in production technology and marketing and changes in feed ingredients are key structural transformations necessary for the aquaculture sector to grow.  With improved genetic techniques, novel genetic lines are being bred for maximum efficiency over a shorter production period with lower feed conversions.  Thus, the correct amount of micro-nutrients present in shrimp diets is crucial.   Furthermore, rapid growth of aquaculture worldwide has become increasingly dependent upon the use of external feed inputs and the use of compound aquafeeds.   Pressures to reduce fishmeal consumption for sustainability reasons, combined with economic reasons, require intensive research efforts to find suitable candidates for fish meal replacement.  

Formulating low fish meal aquaculture feeds may require the use of several supplemental protein ingredients since most feedstuffs have been shown to have significant nutrient and functional limitations that do not allow their use at very high levels in the diets of most aquaculture species.  Fishmeal has always been the preferred choice of nutritionists for quality protein, especially in feeds for the youngest ages of shrimp.  However, due to the reasons listed above, additional renewable and sustainable protein alternatives need to be evaluated.  

An alternative ingredient that can be used in aquaculture feeds to replace fishmeal is Soy Protein Concentrate (SPC).  SPC is produced from the defatted flakes by the removal of the soluble carbohydrates. This can be achieved by two methods, either by ethanol extraction or enzymatic degradation. For the current feeding trial, a commercially-available SPC (NutrivanceTM, Midwest Ag Enterprises, Marshall, MN) was included in the diets of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) at 0, 6.15, 7.45, 9.3, 10.5 or 12.4% of the diet as a replacement to fishmeal.

NutrivanceTM SPC is a quality ingredient that can be utilized in diets of Pacific white shrimp to support normal growth rates. Results obtained in the present study showed that NutrivanceTM can be used as a partial replacement of fishmeal in shrimp diets.  However, when fishmeal levels are less than 3.25% of the diet, other nutrients (fat and/or cholesterol) may need to be added along with NutrivanceTM to support optimal average daily gain and maintain acceptable survivability.  Further work is necessary to determine which nutrients are lacking in shrimp diets when replacing fishmeal with NutrivanceTM soy protein.  Economic considerations should also be made when determining how much soy protein concentrate can be used in diets of Pacific white shrimp. Feed formulations and production data analysis for this study will be presented.