Frequently Asked Questions

Whereas the inclusion of SCP at a rate of 20% in diets for salmons has no negative impact on the animals, in other species I found only value of digestibility and in pigs, e.g. it is around 80%, which is less than for soybean meal.

1. ANSWER from BioTec Protein:
BioProtein has been tested as a protein source in several animals. The levels tested are 36% in diets for salmon, 27% for Rainbow trout, and 15% for piglets, and all with good results. Generally we observe a lower digestibility than e.g. fish meal, with values in the 80+ % range. This is mainly due to nitrogen bound to the non-digestible cell wall naturally present in the microorganism. However, down-stream processing where the protein fraction nitrogen has been separated from the cell wall, show a very high digestibility.
We have also evaluated the digestibility of different amino acids, and they show some variation form that of the digestibility of crude protein, some are higher while some are lower.

As BioProtein has a favorable amino acid profile which is similar to a high quality animal protein source, and it characterized with a high level of tryptophan and methionine, but a low level of lysine. Due to a favorable amino acid profile and high nucleic acid content, we have observed that the nitrogen retentions in the animals tested are high.
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2. QUESTION:
The main concern for the use of this kind of product is the high value o nucleic acids (7% of DM). Nucleic acids are rich in nitrogen and since crdude protein is calculated by N*6.25, ite means that the crude protein value overestimates the real protein content. I calculated the sum of amino acids reported in one of the tables that they provided you with and obtain 66% of amino acids in the toal DM, vs. 70% crude protein. This is not possible. They must have doen something to match crude protein with amino acide content.

 

2. ANSWER from BioTec Protein
We see that the nucleic acid in the product is well utilized by the animals, with a digestibility value of over 95% and an increase in N-utilization, probably partially due to the amino acid sparing effect of the nucleic acids. An overestimation of protein content in the product due to the use of the factor 6.25 might be true. However, we use the N*6.25 method as it is an established industry standard to measure crude protein in feed materials. By this method, the crude protein content of BioProtein varies between 68% - 73%. When comparing the protein content in the BioProtein to other protein sources such as soybean meal, we express the amino acid content in the product both as g amino acid per kg of BioProtein and as g amino acid per 100 g crude protein (or per g/16 g N); by using the latter expression will the inaccuracy of using the factor of 6,25 is eliminated and allows a direct comparison of the amino acid content relative to the crude protein content among the different protein sources. It should also be mentioned that, in especially newborn animals, the nucleic acids are considered essential. Thus, to conclude, the high level of NPN in the product, due to the high content of nucleic acids which serves as building blocks for DNA and RNA, thus have a sparing effect of the amino acids which leads to increased nitrogen retention.

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Also, a lot of non-protein nitrogen means a lot of nitrogen excreted in urine. The impact of animal production on the environment is a major concern and I don´t think that feed producers would use a feed ingredient that increases N excretion substantially.

 

3. ANSWER from BioTec Protein:
This is not what we have observed in our extensive animal models. The nitrogen excretion through the urine is actually often lower than when plant based diets are fed. However, due to a somewhat lower protein digestibility compared with high quality protein sources such as fish meal, the nitrogen content in manure is somewhat higher.
We interpret this as the nitrogen digested is deposited efficiently due to the balanced amino acid profile and the high content of nucleic acids in BioProtein which are essential for rapidly growing young animals, and thus leading to a sparing effect on essential amino acids. (For more details please read Øverland et al. Archives of Animal Nutrition Vol. 64, No. 3, June 2010, 171–189.)______________________________________________________________________

Another concern is the consistency of the product (variation in quality over time) as well as supply, but this is a common problem for all by-products.

 

4. ANSWER from BioTec Protein:
In fact when this process is running smoothly the product is showing a very stable consistency. As the product is produced in an industrial process independent of climate, we do not have any seasonal variations in quality and quantity. Because the product is dry and low in unsaturated fatty acids, the shelf life is long.

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Saying that ¨animals fed with SCP grow faster than other animals¨ is irrelevant, in my opinion. It would only mean that the control diet was not well balanced or that the animals eat much more of the bacterial protein-based diet. There is no evidence that the protein enhances feed intake.

 

When fish meal or soybean is substituted with BioProtein in an otherwise identical diet, we generally observe similar or slightly favorable growth rate and feed efficiency, despite a lowered digestibility. This suggests that BioProtein is indeed a sustainable alternative protein ingredient for terrestrial monogastric farm animals and fish. Also, BioProtein contain components, known or unknown, which are favorable when balancing the diet. Whether this is elevated levels of other components like nucleic acids, minerals, and vitamins, or more efficient nitrogen deposit, or positive influence of animal (gut) health can only be speculated on but we have now several international scientific publications documenting these favorable functional properties in BioProtein (please contact us if you are interested in more information concerning these beneficial effects).

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In summary, the product has been known for years and presents some interest from a nutritional point of view, although it is not a miraculous one. However, a major effort will have to be made to promote it and demonstrate its advantages and safety, because there is always a concern on the effect of the product on the overall health of the animals (on immune system, metabolism, gut health, etc.). According to the literature, there is no major problem, but you need to be very convincing (i.e. multiple experiments done by public institutes) to convince users that the product is safe. More generally, feed producers are very conservative and don´t trust revolutionary products very easily.

 

6. ANSWER from BioTec Protein:
We agree that BioProtein has been known for many years, but now after the completion of several research programs, we have extensive documentation of the use of this product with respect to performance of pigs, chicken, companion animals and several farmed fish species. This includes nutritional value, effect on physical feed quality as well as a comprehensive documentation about the health beneficial effects of BioProtein and finally the positive effect of this product on product quality of pigs and poultry. Thus, BioProtein is due to its unique production process a new alternative source of high quality protein and biomass, which will be one of many sources that form the animal feed of the future. Actually, we believe that the animal feed of the future will consist of even more raw materials than used today. As you are mentioning safety and gut health we have observed that the product has a positive impact in gut health, and this is published by Romarheim et al. J. Nutr. 2011, 141: 124-130. For more details about the nutritional values of BioProtein we can refer to the scientific articles published, and a good starting point is the review of Øverland et al. Archives of Animal Nutrition Vol. 64, No. 3, June 2010, 171–189. In order to succeed with BioProtein we have to document the functionality and quality of the product. In addition we have to comply with the commercial forces working in this market.