I N C O R P O R AT I N G

F I S H FA R M I N G T E C H N O L O G Y

May | June 2014

Algae and animal nutrition

International Aquafeed is published six times a year by Perendale Publishers Ltd of the United Kingdom.
All data is published in good faith, based on information received, and while every care is taken to prevent inaccuracies,
the publishers accept no liability for any errors or omissions or for the consequences of action taken on the basis of
information published.
Copyright 2014 Perendale Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form
or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owner. Printed by Perendale Publishers Ltd. ISSN: 1464-0058

The International magazine for the aquaculture feed industry

Aquafeed complete solutions

from a single source.
Turn to Bhler for one of the most comprehensive lines of aquafeed process technology available anywhere: from raw
material handling, cooking and shaping through extrusion to drying and coating of finished products. With an extensive
know-how and a passion for quality we ensure not only product uniformity and production efficiency, but also maximum
sanitation and safety. Bhler gentle processing at its best. www.buhlergroup.com/aquafeed

Innovations for a better world.

FEATURE

ALGAE
and animal
nutrition

hether brown, red or green,

algae are resources with
huge potential, however
they are largely untapped,
particularly in Europe.

Even if the implementation of viable economic sectors still seems distant, more and
more projects are based on the valorisation of
this promising raw material for food and feed
industries: A process for which scientists and
industrialists have everything to gain in moving
forward together.
The earth has seven production basins of
brown seaweed, Asia being widely ahead (75
percent).
Northern Europe comes far behind with
two percent of world production.
The required conditions for the cultivation of seaweed are cold water with no
ice, recalls Marc Danjon, deputy director of
Ceva, the Centre dEtude et de Valorisation
des Algues, which emphasises that seaweed
culture sector has increased by eight percent
every year for 30 years.
Do you know many sectors having such
exponential growth ? Its an impressive market, notes the scientist who regrets that
France still produces less than 100 tonnes
per year.
Here stands the challenge of BreizhAlg
project, which aims to establish a seaweed
industry and bring the development of seaweed culture within a process of regional
development.
For Marc Danjon, its time to think of
a range like we do for vegetables and to
develop a real industry for sea vegetables.

All the more since seaweed are full of

qualities offering enormous opportunities
to exploit: they do not need fertilizers, nor
freshwater, nor pesticides and require on
average one-sixth of the surface needed by
terrestrial cultures.
In contrast with the terrestrial plants that
draw nutrients from their roots, algae absorb
nutrients on their entire surface, thus greatly
increasing their productivity.
Moreover, their colloidal structure, which
allows greater water retention, provides to
algae twice more dry matter than terrestrial
plants. A well-known quality for Canadians
and Norwegians, who are developing a significant production of Ascophyllum meal,
widely used in agriculture and animal nutrition,
including cattle.
Brown seaweed of the Fucales family,
Ascophyllum is particularly interesting for its
vitamins, minerals and proteins supply, but
also for its powerful binding properties. Setalg,
based in Brittany, commonly uses it for animal
feed, mainly for petfood (read RAA 649, p36).

Nutritional value

Our interest in seaweed is not new: it

dates back to the Neolithic, where they were
used as fertilizer, feed, fuel, etc.
As for research on algae, it really started
in the second half of the 19th Century, with
the creation of marine stations of Concarneau
(1859) and Naples (1872), followed by the
start in 1872 of the laboratory of experimental zoology now known as biological Station
of Roscoff.
Raw material with several interests, macroalgae are too often reserved for specialty
24 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | May-June 2014

markets, therefore with sometimes a prohibitive cost.

The nutritional value of algae stands yet in
the joint presence of minerals (particularly rich
mineral fraction), fiber, protein, vitamins and lipids,
depending on the species (see descriptive table).
In the feed industry, seaweed meals are
increasingly used as a dietary supplement, but
seaweed extract still remain quite inaccessible
economically.

Valorisation

This is exactly Cevas role (Center of

study and valorization of seaweed), based in
Pleubian, Ctes d'Armor, to clear the knowledge before considering possible applications,
so that the operation is economically viable.
Idealg project, born in late 2010 (coordinated by the European University of Brittany
and Roscoff Biological Station), aims to develop a sector of algae for industrials.
It is part of The Great Loan Project,
"which amounts to consider for the first time
algae in the same way as wheat or corn!" Said
Jean-Franois Sassi, product division manager
of Ceva.
The idea is to increase volumes by intensive selection work; this project complements
Breizh'Alg intention, which is to develop an
economic sector of seaweed in Brittany.
"This is the second floor of the rocket,
Marc Danjon likes to imagine. Both projects
are advancing in parallel: Idealy must feed itself
from the results and difficulties of Breizh'Alg.
Todays priority is to find areas of culture,
which actually happens in the recovery of concessions, especially from the shellfish industry
in trouble.

FEATURE

The next step after seaweed farming will

be offshore marine aquaculture, with shellfish
and seaweed culture on the same site as fish
farming (open ocean aquaculture).
Algae have a detoxifying effect that is
particularly interesting in a closed system: the
co-culture shrimp / green seaweed, commonly practiced in Mexico and Asia, thus
improves the sanitary status of the farm,
reduces feed costs and has a positive effect
on pigmentation of crustaceans raised under
these conditions.
Applications of seaweed are - theoretically numerous: cosmetics, human and animal
nutrition, chemistry.
Until now, the latter sector has known the
heaviest investments from large groups.
"Today, three large groups share
the global market of transformation of
seaweed
in bio-products, says JeanFranois Sassi: FMC Biopolymer, Cargill
and Dupont, all three directed towards
the production of alginate or carrageenan,
in other words, gelling agents for food and
industrial use.
At the other end of the chain, there are
also some small seaweed farmers that we
count on the fingers of one hand in Brittany.
In between, it is missing SMEs working on the
very diverse transformation of algal material,
he adds
Some manufacturers, like Olmix, understood the market opportunity that could
represent the algal resource exploitation.
A project like Ulvans aims to implement a
complete green algae industrial sector.
The scientific literature begins to abound
to demonstrate the positive effects of sea-

weed in health and

nutrition of humans
and animals.
Henri Salmon,
researcher
at
INRA, presented
at Olmix 1st Algae
Symposium
in
September 2012,
the result of his
research on immune
action and antiinflammatory effects
of marine sulfated
polysaccharides
(MSP).
"Depending on
the considered type
of polysaccharide,
there is a general
action on innate
immunity, with different mechanisms
of cell recognition
and many types of
pathways - activation of the complement, of the lymphocytes, production of cytokines.
The scientist also
notes that more and
more publications
have reported very
successful results
in many areas of
human and animal
health,
"Whether
in
the field of antiviral
activities (Influenza,
H5N1), in the regulation of inflammation and anticoagulant properties or
anti-tumoral activities, to mention only
the most important
ones. Most of these
activities have been
observed or measured in cell cultures
or
experimental
animals (rat); all
these properties are
potentially applicable to livestock species."

A lot of
perspectives

For now France

is still far from using
these resources on
an industrial scale.

LIPTOFRY
PHYTOBIOTIC GROWTH
PROMOTER FOR FINGERLINGS

Improved survival and growth rate

Improved health status
Immune boosting effect
Shortened production cycle

C/ San Romualdo 12-14 28037 Madrid (Espaa)

+34 902 15 77 11 +34 91 725 08 00
liptosa@liptosa.com www.liptosa.com

May-June 2014 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | 25

FEATURE
requires very specific conditions.
Green seaweed are rich in indigestible fiber so they are good
Brown seaweed: 5-11 % DM
Protein
for health but not directly for
Red seaweed: 30-40 % DM (quantitatively
animal growth. In culture, it is
equivalent to soybean)
therefore necessary to enrich the
Green seaweed: 20% DM
Microalgae : Between 12 and 65 % DM
Ulva in protein and in digestible
fiber.
Macroalgae : low lipid content value of 1 to 3%
Fat
DM (up to 5% in Ascophyllum nodosum)
Further research is needed to
Green seaweed: high content in oleic (C 18:1)
reduce the obstacle represented
and alpha-linolenic (w3-C 18:3) fatty acids.
by the fibers for protein digestRed seaweed: high content of polyunsaturated
ibility, in order to transform seafatty acids, EPA (w3-C20-5) and arachidonic acid
weed matter in real raw material
(w6-C20: 4). Presence of linoleic and linolenic
fatty acids.
for all species.
Brown seaweed: comparable to other families,
We can get a complete food
with a high concentration of linolenic fatty acids.
quite easily as long as we control
Microalgae: Can accumulate over 50% of
the conditions of biomass protheir dry weight in fat. These consist mainly of
duction, says Jean-Franois Sassi.
triglycerides, phospholipids and glycolipids. They
contain saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids
Brown, red or green, seasuch as omega 3 : ALA,EPA,DHA, or omega 6
weed have the potential to feed
:ARA.
but these products are not caliAverage total content: 32 to 50% DM
Fibers
brated.
(macroalgae) Insoluble fiber is found in small amounts in the
Significant variations of chemiform of cellulosic fractions and floridean starch.
cal composition of seaweed
Soluble fiber (or phycocolloids), more interesting,
actually make their operation
are better represented:
Red seaweed: 51-56% in the form of agars,
difficult, hence the necessity for
carrageenans and xylans
further research on this issue.
Green seaweed: 51-56% in the form of ulvans,
Regarding microalgae, operatrhamnanes and arabinogalactan
ing conditions are even more delBrown seaweed: 67 to 87% in the form of
icate and complex, which makes
laminaranes (B-glucans), alginates and fucans
their cost prohibitive (around
The mineral fraction can represent up to 36% DM.
Mineral
Euro3600 per kilo). Their fat
Macro-nutrients: sodium, calcium, magnesium,
component
(macroalgae) potassium, chlorine, sulfur, phosphorus...
content is particularly interesting
Trace elements: iron, zinc, copper, selenium,
for the biodiesel industry and
molybdenum, fluorine, manganese, boron, nickel,
many projects are being set up
cobalt
to develop its use in animal and
Case of iodine: exceptionally rich in iodine,
human nutrition.
especially for brown seaweed (kelp) and red
seaweed (Gracilaria) and can reach 10 000mg/
We are still a long way
kg.
from producing protein meal,
Red seaweed: provitamin A
Vitamins
reports Marc Danjon, who is
Green seaweed: vitamin C
calling for a real technological
Brown seaweed: vitamins E,C
revolution to develop the use
The B vitamins are well represented (B2 and B3 in
of microalgae.
particular), with originality for B12 normally not
The fields of research
found in plants.
Microalgae: vitamins B1, B6, B12, C,E, K1
are numerous and very
promising but algae suffer
Antioxydants Macro and microalgae: Caratenoids between 0.1
and 0.2 % (Fucoxanthin, B-carotene, violaxanthin,
from being excluded from
zexanthine and lutein)
plant crops," observe Cevas
Macroalgae: polyphenols (phlorotannins) can
researchers.
represent from 5 to 20% dry weight of brown
Europe has no agronomic
seaweed.
approach towards algae like Asia
Seaweed are underutilised, regrets Marc does, "where they grow algae the same way
as vegetables," he adds.
Danjon from Ceva.
Probably also for cultural reasons algae
come marginally in the human diet, compared About Olmix & the
to the use that is made in Asia.
Ulvans project
Regarding the specific case of green seaOlmix, a specialist in green chemistry,
weed, Marc Danjon asserts that their potential quickly saw the potential of algae in aquaculuses in food are underutilised worldwide. ture and agriculture. Green seaweed polyTheir protein content can achieve a significant saccharides, ulvans, combined with micronrate of 30 percent of dry matter and are also ised clay from Montmorillon gave birth to
rich in fiber.
Amadite in 2004 and this patented product
Nevertheless, Cevas researchers warn the is now introduced in various feed suppleindustrials: "Wild resources do not present a ments for animals.
very important energy supply and their culture
Today with the support of Oso (up to
Composition of seaweed used in animal feed

26 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | May-June 2014

Euro10 million for a project which amounts

to Euro25 million euros of investment),
Olmix wishes to structure the valorisation
of seaweed at an industrial scale and to
develop the use of algae as proteins substitute to fishmeal, fertilizer and biostimulant
for plants.
In all, four plants are mobilised around the
pilot project: two sites for the collection and
initial processing, in Plouenan and Nantes, and
two high-tech stations for the development of
finished products:
"Our technique is to hydrolyze the algae
to isolate active principles and to extract the
proteins.
The valorisation in animal nutrition is
driven towards nutraceuticals and aquaculture,
where seaweed offer a real alternative to fishmeal. Our pilot plant in Plouenan will reach a
processing capacity of 15,000 tonnes of algae.
In Indonesia a project to develop algae for
bioethanol and food (human and animal) is
being developed with volumes of two million
tonnes. It is clear that the raw material is over
there, says the company.

About Ceva

Ceva, based in Pleubian on the Northern

coast of Brittany, is the only technical center
in Europe dedicated to the study and valorization of marine plants.
Originally created in 1982 to study the phenomenon of green seaweed, Ceva expanded its
applied research on algae (macro and micro),
marine plants and marine biotechnology.
The center is equipped with a laboratory of analysis, focusing on the research of
seaweed active principles. It combines the
resources needed for R&D projects on the
development of new process (extraction,
purification) and the physio-chemical characterisation of products stemming from these
projects or specific customers requests.
It is strongly focused on the chemistry of
algal polysaccharides, but also of proteins,
polyphenols, pigments and minerals.
Ceva also ensures the transfer of scientific
knowledge from academia to the industrial
field: it is well equipped with a pilot platform providing the full transformation process
to develop various semi-industrial products
according to the requests. With a staff of 25
members, Ceva is organised in three main
departments that are environment, culture
and products.
Created with the support of Breton
communities and industrials of algae sector, Ceva is a private research organisation
open to any type of industrialists. It is part
of Actia network, which is certified as Agroindustrial Technical Institute (Itai) by the
First Ministry.
Reference: La Revue de l'Alimentation Animale
N 664, mars 2013 by Sarah Le Bl and Caroline
Morice.

FEATURE

Die and roll re-working machines

www.oj-hojtryk.dk
Phone: +45 75 14 22 55
Fax: +45 82 28 91 41
mail: info@oj-hojtryk.dk

AD_o&j.indd 1

O&J Hjtryk A/S

rnevej 1, DK-6705
Esbjerg
CVR.: 73 66 86 11

21/11/2012 15:08

AMINOCarp
Improve your feed formulation.

www.evonik.com/feed-additives | feed-additives@evonik.com

May-June 2014 | INTERNATIONAL AQUAFEED | 27

LINKS
This digital re-print is part of the May | June 2014 edition of International
Aquafeed magazine.
Content from the magazine is available to view free-of-charge, both as a full
online magazine on our website, and as an archive of individual features on
the docstoc website.
Please click here to view our other publications on www.docstoc.com.

See the full issue

I N C O R P O R AT I N G
F I S H FA R M I N G T E C H N O L O G Y

Assessing the potential

of polychaete meal in
shrimp feeds

Visit the International Aquafeed website

Contact the International Aquafeed Team

Subscribe to International Aquafeed

Prospects on dietary trace minerals

aquafeeds & aquaculture

Use of a heat-stable
protease in salmonid feeds
experiences from Canada and Chile

Fish Farming Technology supplement

Nets and cages

Recirculating aquaculture
systems

Vo l u m e 1 7 I s s u e 3 2 0 1 4 -

m AY | J u N e

To purchase a paper copy of the magazine, or to subscribe to the paper

edition please contact our Circulation and Subscriptions Manager on the link
above.

INFORMATION FOR ADVERTISERS - CLICK HERE

www.aquafeed.co.uk