Use of an Ethanol Bio-Refinery Product as a Soy Bean Alternative in Diets for Fast-Growing Meat Production Species: A Circular Economy Approach

Emily Burton,Ashraf Alkhtib,Dawn Scholey,Peter Williams

doi:10.3390/su131911019

Abstract

The recent conceptual pivot from bioethanol production to ethanol biorefining has led to development of protein derived by fractionating the non-ethanol streams post fermentation within the plant. The aim of this study was to identify the effect of replacing dietary soy with corn-fermented protein (CFP) on performance of fast-growing meat species and the impact on the carbon footprint associated with the feed for each species. The study contains trials on 3 species, broiler, turkey and salmon. In trial one, 324 broiler chicks were allocated randomly to 36 pens distributed into 3 dietary treatments; control (0% CFP), 5% CFP and 10% CFP; for 35 days. In trial 2, 150 turkey poults were allocated to 3 treatments: control (0 CFP), 4% CFP and 8% CFP for 35 days. In trial 3, 525 Atlantic Salmon (starting weight 304 g ± 10.7 g) were raised in 15 saltwater tanks for 84 days with 5 treatments, control (0% CFP), 5% CFP, 10% CFP, 15% CFP and 20% CFP. Growth response, nutrient utilisation and carbon footprint were assessed in each trial. Replacement of soy with CFP showed limited differences in growth response and nutrient utilization but replacing soy bean meal with CFP at rate of 5%, 8% and 10% in broiler, turkey and salmon diets, respectively resulted in a 14% decrease in carbon footprint of diet manufacturing. This investigation shows coupling bioethanol production with poultry and salmon production represents a highly effective circular economy contributing to multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Highlights

Published: 4 October 2021Poultry and fish are both increasing in popularity as protein sources in human diets.Fish consumption has increased by 122% between 1990 and 2018 [1] with an over 500%rise in aquaculture production globally over the same timescale
Feed intake increased with increasing levels of corn-fermented protein (CFP) in the diets, with intake of 10% CFP-fed birds being significantly higher than the control
Nitrogen retention was significantly improved for the 5% CFP diet over both the control and the 10% diet

Summary

Introduction

Published: 4 October 2021Poultry and fish are both increasing in popularity as protein sources in human diets.Fish consumption has increased by 122% between 1990 and 2018 [1] with an over 500%rise in aquaculture production globally over the same timescale. Fish consumption has increased by 122% between 1990 and 2018 [1] with an over 500%. Poultry meat production is increasing year on year and is predicted to have reached 137 MT in 2020 [1]. This rapid increase in the scale of meat production inevitably creates a conflicting global role for poultry and fish production: in rapidly increasing their contribution to UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 (Zero hunger) and SDG 3 (Good health and wellbeing), the negative implications for SDG (Responsible consumption and production) and SDG (Climate action) are concurrently increased through increased resource use and pollution, respectively. Development of circular economies is an effective way to reduce the livestock and poultry pollution, improve the utilization efficiency of resources [3], and to balance economic development and environmental protection [3]

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