Fraunhofer Research Institution for Individualized Medical Technology and Engineering IMTE
Fraunhofer Research Institution for Individualized Medical Technology and Engineering IMTE

ZeroWasteMibi

ZeroWasteMiBi – Wheat byproducts for aquaculture feed

Global demand for fish has been rising for many years, while catches from marine fisheries have stagnated since the 1980s and many fish stocks are considered overfished or only marginally sustainable. As a result, aquaculture is becoming increasingly important—more than half of the world’s fish and seafood products now come from aquaculture. For this sector to grow in the long term, feed in particular must be made more sustainable.

In aquaculture, feed is often produced using fish meal and fish oil derived from wild-caught fish or byproducts of fish processing. As demand for these raw materials rises alongside the growth of aquaculture, there is an increasing search for alternative and more sustainable feed ingredients.

The carotenoid astaxanthin is an important component of many feeds for salmonids such as salmon and rainbow trout. It gives the fillet its characteristic reddish color and plays a key role in the fish’s metabolism, for example as an antioxidant and in supporting the immune system. In practice, astaxanthin is often produced synthetically from petrochemical feedstocks, an energy-intensive process based on fossil fuels. As a result, natural alternatives are increasingly becoming the focus of research.

In collaboration with project partners, we are therefore investigating whether an industrial byproduct of the food industry can be used to cultivate yeasts and other microorganisms as a substitute for fish meal, fish oil, and synthetic astaxanthin. To this end, we are producing feed containing varying proportions of these raw materials and testing them in feeding trials with rainbow trout to analyze their effects on growth, health, and color development. The goal is to develop new approaches for a more resource-efficient and sustainable fish diet, thereby contributing to food security.