Finnish biotechnology company Enifer announced on Wednesday 20, 2023 new trial results that detail the positive effects of their mycoprotein product PEKILO-Aqua on salmon health and growth. The trials were carried out by a group of Norwegian researchers headed by Professor Margareth Øverland at NMBU University and presented for the first time at the Aquaculture Europe 2023 conference taking place in Vienna.
A new twist on an old process
The core process to produce PEKILO mycoprotein is well established. As the world’s first continuous mycoprotein process, it was developed in Finland and commercialized in the 1970s for the production of feed protein for pigs and poultry. The process employs fermentation of the fungus Paecilomyces variotii to upcycle low-value industrial byproducts into dry protein ingredients, that can be used like conventional protein sources like soy.
Production was discontinued in the early 1990s due to a lack of side streams from the forest industry and unfavorable market conditions. Since 2020, the new startup company Enifer has taken up the baton and breathed new life into PEKILO fermentation. The company has been modernizing the process, tapping into new side streams and creating tailored ingredients like PEKILO-Aqua for specific higher-value end markets. The company’s progress has previously been reported on Aquafeed.com.
Improved salmon growth on mycoprotein from Nordic forests
While Enifer has previously carried out feeding trials in salmon and rainbow trout, mainly validating the high protein digestibility of PEKILO-Aqua, the new results are the first to add more detail to the beneficial effects of the novel ingredient in salmon nutrition. The study was carried out under the NORDICFEED project funded by NordForsk, an organization under the Nordic Council of Ministers.
The PEKILO-Aqua mycoprotein ingredient used in the study had been produced by Enifer on side streams from Nordic wood pulping. It was used in varying amounts to replace other common protein ingredients in salmon feed including soy protein concentrate (SPC), vital wheat gluten and fishmeal, while maintaining the total nitrogen, lipid and energy contents of the feeds equal. The growth trial was carried out with juvenile salmon in freshwater. The studies showed that not only could the mycoprotein replace conventional protein ingredients, but the feed conversion ratio in fact improved in a linear fashion with higher mycoprotein inclusion in the feed. Improvement was also seen in the nutrient utilization efficiency.
Norwegian researchers headed by Professor Margareth Øverland at NMBU University and Heikki Keskitalo. Credits: Enifer
Beyond nutrition - boosting the salmon immune system
The salmon farming industry is in a constant struggle to manage infectious agents such as sea lice and bacteria. Maintaining and improving the function of the fish immune system is therefore of utmost importance. Besides a crude protein content of ~65%, the PEKILO-Aqua ingredient contains high levels of nucleotides (>10%) and β-glucan (~15%). These compounds are already sold commercially in pure form and added to specialty feeds for their health-promoting effects, and since they form a natural part of the PEKILO-Aqua ingredient, they were hypothesized to bring benefits over conventional protein ingredients. And this is exactly what the researchers uncovered.
In a conference paper entitled Beyond nutritional value: Mycoprotein from Paecilomyces variotii improves growth performance and overall health responses in Atlantic Salmon, they detailed how the PEKILO-Aqua ingredient induced a systemic immune response in the fish. Even low inclusion (5%) of the ingredient led to a strong T-cell response, innate immunity responses and enhanced antimicrobial activity. With higher inclusion levels (10-20%), activation of T1 helper cells and specific responses to β-glucan were also evident. As more direct evidence of increased immune activity, the studies showed that the salmon fed PEKILO-Aqua had higher levels of antibodies against the common bacterial pathogen, Vibrio anguillarum, which can wreak havoc on farms.
“These results showcase how our bespoke PEKILO-Aqua ingredient is not only the sustainable protein source of the future for the aquaculture industry, but it actually brings clear added benefits to fish health and growth,” said Heikki Keskitalo, business development manager and one of the co-founders of Enifer who was present at the conference. “Our collaboration with Professor Øverland has allowed us to have the brightest minds in salmon research study our ingredient in detail. These results clearly show that our mycoprotein is a very potential ingredient for starter and smolt feeds.”
In April, the company announced the closing of its EUR 11 million Series A led by the Dutch investment fund Aqua-Spark. It is currently designing its first commercial-scale production plants and expects to be able to ship industrial volumes of its ingredients in 2026.
The results of the successful salmon trials were presented and discussed in a series of conference presentations by Prof. Øverland’s group:
