SBIR-STTR Award

Flax containing omega 3 fatty acids and relatively high protein content offers advantages as a potential source of plant protein and oil to replace fishmeal and oil in aquaculture feeds; reducing both pressure on marine fisheries and the principal source of contaminants in farmed fish. MMP ahs used innovative fungal culture technology in separate processes to develop low cost, multi activity cellulose enzymes and to enhance protein content and nutritional quality of soybeans. Integrating these processes to convert fiber and increase protein and oil concentration of flax would overcome the principal barriers to using flax in aquaculture feeds. In Phase I, MMP will meet three objectives to demonstrate technical feasibility; 1) determine the best process design for integrating fiber conversion and nutritional enhancement; 2) develop enhanced flax that meets principal nutritional criteria for replacing fishmeal in salmonid diets; 3) test acceptance of enhanced flax in initial trout feeding trials

Potential Commercial Applications:
Enhanced flax will compete with fishmeal in the $1 billion plus market for protein and oil ingredients in aquaculture feed. Initial target market is for salmonid feeds. MMP plans to manufacture and market microbially enhanced flax to companies that manufacture and market finished aquaculture feeds

In Phase I, MMP combined strain selection with the company’s innovative technology for solid substrate culture of fungi to develop a process for treating whole flax seed; creating bioenhanced flax seed nutritionally suitable for direct use as a replacement for fish oil in aquaculture feeds. This process reduced fiber content of flax seed by up to 80%, increased protein concentration from 20 to 26% and increased total content oil from 25% up to as much as 45%. Of the total oil, 55% to 57% is the omega 3 fatty acid, linolenic acid. The process also eliminated the mucilage that causes the feeding deterrent effects of flax. In Phase II, MMP will advance commercialization by completing a work plan with three principal components, pilot scale up of the solid substrate culture process, trout feeding trials and selection of a fungus to enhance flax oil with EPA and DHA, long chain C20 and C22 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Objectives are to generate manufacturing design and cost estimates, establish value of bioEnhanced flax seed in trout feeds and develop the basis for nutritionally complete plant derived oil to replace fish oil in trout feeds.

Potential Commercial Applications:
Bioenhanced flax seed will replace fish oil in aquaculture feeds. Initial target market is feed for farmed trout, to be followed by salmon feeds. MMP plans to manufacture and sell bioenhanced flax seed to companies that manufacture finished aquaculture feeds