Recycling of rest raw materials from bio-based industry by production of low trophic Crustaceans (Gammaridae) for new marine ingredients

The basis of a modern bioeconomy is high resource efficiency and recycling of nutrients. A large portion of bio-based organic residues are currently deposited, used for low value applications or for energy production. Cultivation of low trophic organisms is a highly relevant approach to increase the value of bio-based rest raw materials and to recycle nutrients from such. A novel group of marine low-trophic organisms with great potential for commercial production of marine biomass are the small crustaceans Gammaridae, which can be cultured on nutritionally poor diets – and result in highly nutritious biomass and can represent excellent sources of omega-3 LC-PUFAs, compounds whose demand is currently not met by supply. BIOCYCLES aims to increase the sustainability of today's bio-based industries by creating a new biomarine production based on cultivation of crustaceans that recycles and fully utilizes rest raw materials and converts them into new bioresources. In a multi-disciplinary and cross-sectional way the project has aimed to 1) develop handling and pre-treatment strategies for different bio-based rest raw materials from forestry, aquaculture and agriculture to obtain suitable substrates for gammarids, 2) optimize cultivation conditions and apply a zero waste concept 3) develop sustainable processing technologies to extract high-value marine ingredients, and 4) analyzing social- economic perspectives of the future protein market of which gammarid ingredients would be a part. The consortium consists of SINTEF Ocean, NIBIO, RISE PFI, and CSIC (Spain) as project partners, and actors from several different bio-based industries, the Food Authorities, and Innovation Norway as members of the reference group. Gammarids (Echinogammarus marinus) have been harvested from the wild and have been cultivated at SINTEF Ocean. Different substrates have been tested to see if the gammarids accepted them as feed. Growth experiments showed that newly hatched gammarids were able to grow solely on residues from potatoes, and that the long chain fatty acids DHA and EPA were present in the animals, even though such fatty acids were not provided by the diet. Cultivation of gammarids needs to follow the same regulations as for other production animals, and these do limit the commercial use of certain rest raw materials. The capability of Gammaridae to biosynthesize omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA) has been investigated, as also previous results have indicated that Gammaridae may be able to biosynthesize LC-PUFAs. Low survival and growth were seen in some growth experiments –adding evidence to previous results showing that it is more challenging to cultivate E.marinus than G.locusta, and that the latter possibly has higher potential for use in cultivation. One subgoal of the project was to evaluate the possibility to recycle nutrients in effluents from the cultivation tanks by microalgae cultivation. The results show that the concentration of nutrients in the effluents is too low for microalgae growth in the current cultivation tanks. In a commercial production system – the concentration of animals – and thereby also nutrients – will be higher. In lack of suitable effluent water, experiments on continuous cultivation of microalgae species relevant for cultivation in gammarid effluents have been performed using standard culture media. The produced microalgae have been tested both as a feed supplement for the gammarids and as bio-stimulant for plants. The biochemical composition of gammarid biomass could make it suitable to use as aquafeed directly, but it is also an interesting biomass for other, more high value applications. Different production strategies and methods to produce ingredients from the gammarids have been evaluated. The quality of the produced ingredients, such as fishmeal, or hydrolysates have been analysed. The lipid content was too low for effective separation without the use of solvents. Content of minerals and heavy metals were well below the maximum allowed limits for feed ingredients from crustaceans. By applying a social- economic perspective, a comparative analysis of alternative new sources of proteins where gammarids forms one alternative has been performed. A seminar was arranged, bringing together people from both academia, industry from blue and green sector, the food safety authority, and the government. The main aim was to get an overview of industry-dynamics and to illustrate and discuss the opportunities and challenges for the development of new protein industries and for advancing the circular bioeconomy. The comparative study of the socio-economic potential of alternative new sources of protein has led to the description of a potential protein – energy – circularity nexus where the supply of protein may become much more elastic than currently perceived and where the energy costs is a main determinant of protein prices.

The project has accelerated multidisciplinary and cross-sectional cooperation within the bio economy. The project has lead to increased knowledge on low trophic cultivation on sidestreams, which may represent a more sustainable production of biomass than traditional food production. BioCycles has shown that Gammarids has the potential to recycle organic rest raw materials from bio-based industries and represent a nutritional biomass suitable for both feed and food. Gammarids cultivated according to the regulations can be processed into nutritional ingredients suitable both for human consumption and feed purposes. The project has laid the basis for future commercial exploitation of Gammaridae cultivation. In a longer term – by establishment of a new industry based on low trophic cultivation, the project may contribute to higher resource efficiency, increased availability of nutritional and more sustainable raw materials for use in feed or human consumption, and new jobs. BioCycles have had an active dialogue with different stakeholders, and contributed to increased knowledge amongst researchers, industry, policy makers/administration, regarding possibilities and challenges when it to side stream usage, recirculation, and biotransformation, and driving forces for creation of new bioindustries, where market and demands for both substrates and products, and regulatory aspects are important factors. A large part of the knowledge is generic – and can be applied in studies of other types of bioconversions and new and circular industries. The project has led to increased international cooperation, and the abilities of converting side streams by low trophic cultivation of invertebrates will be further explored in several international research project (in example SIDESTREAM and BLUEGREENFEED).

BIOCYCLES aims to increase the sustainability of today's bio-based industries by creating a new biomarine production based on cultivation of crustaceans that recycles and fully utilizes rest raw materials and converts them into new bioresources. The basis of a modern bioeconomy is high resource efficiency and recycling of nutrients. A large portion of bio-based organic residues are currently used for low value applications such as biogas or energy. Cultivation of low trophic organisms is a highly relevant and innvoative approach to increase the value of bio-based rest raw materials and to recycle nutrients from them. Marine low-trophic organisms with great potential for commercial production of marine biomass are the small crustaceans Gammaridaes, which can be cultured on nutritionally poor diets – and result in highly nutritious biomass. The lipids, mainly composed of omega-3 rich phospholipids, are probably one of the most interesting fractions, followed by proteins and carotenoids. Importantly there exist strong molecular evidence suggesting that Gammaridaes have enzymatic capability to biosynthesise omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) de novo and, with optimized culture protocols, Gammaridaes can represent excellent sources of these nutrients. BIOCYCLES will develop handling and pre-treatment strategies for different bio-based rest raw materials from forestry, aquaculture and agriculture to obtain suitable substrates for the Gammaridaes. Cultivation conditions will be optimized, and sustainable processing technologies for Gammaridae will be developed, to extract and produce marine ingredients suitable for e.g. food or feed. The possibilities and consequences of upscaling selected production processes will be evaluated in an environmental, social and economic perspective. The project group consist of highly experienced researchers covering a broad range of scientific disciplines – actively involving relevant industries and stakeholders in the project.