Aquaculture: new ingredients solve the sector’s challenges

Consultant in the Animal Nutrition sector in several companies, Wilson Boscolo is the guest of BRFi Talks. He spoke to us in detail about topics such as functional feed for aqua feed, digestibility, alternative foods, functionality, shrimp mortality and Enzymatic Feather Hydrolysate, in addition to commenting on BRF Ingredients' launches at FENAGRA 2024.

An animal scientist graduated in 1997 from the Universidade Estadual de Maringá, with a master's and doctorate in Animal Production from the same institution and a Post-Doctorate in Animal Science from Unesp-Botucatu, Wilson is also a professor at the Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná since 2001, where he teaches in the Graduate in Fisheries and Aquaculture Engineering and Postgraduate in Fisheries Resources and Fisheries Engineering.

Check out the interview:

Regarding aquaculture feed trends in 2024, it is expected that there will be a continued focus on developing more efficient and nutritious diets for farmed species. Which of these trends would you highlight for this year?

We have many environmental and health challenges in Aquaculture today. Therefore, the development of efficient diets in accordance with regional challenges and in accordance with the aquaculture production system will be necessary for the sustainability of the sector.

In the Aquaculture market, there is a lot of talk about alternative ingredients, substitutes for ingredients of marine origin. In this sense, it is inevitable to mention nutritional additives, which are on the rise. How do you analyze this trend from a functional nutrition perspective?

With the decreasing availability of quality fish meals, which are rich in essential nutrients, and their consequent increase in value, there is a growing demand for basic nutritional additives such as industrial amino acids and vitamins. There is also a growing demand for functional ingredients and additives, which aim to improve the performance, immunity and health of animals.

Thinking about food efficiency, there is an increasing focus on strategies that aim to reduce food waste and improve nutritional efficiency in Aquaculture operations. What does an ingredient need to contain to help achieve the efficiency desired by producers?

With the current intensification of Aquaculture, the better the efficiency in the use of feed, the more sustainable the farming system will be. Therefore, highly digestible ingredients are essential to provide less effluent generation and support the high densities currently used.

Bioactio Efficiency, one of BRF Ingredients' launches at FENAGRA 2024, is a food that delivers efficiency for animal nutrition. What do you consider to be the biggest differences and benefits of BRFi's new Enzymatic Feather Hydrolyzate?

The first important aspect is that it is a renewable source. It is also a source that provides highly digestible amino acids. This ingredient is produced by controlled enzymatic hydrolysis and, therefore, its main advantage is its bioactive peptides in high concentration. These bioactive peptides, in addition to being easily absorbed and important for nutrition, have functionality improving the resistance of organisms such as shrimp, especially in the challenging environments we currently face. This results in greater animal survival and improvements in other zootechnical indices. With the Vibrio parahaemolyticus challenge carried out in partnership with the Federal University of Santa Catarina, there was greater shrimp survival at all levels of the Bioactio Efficiency Feather Enzymatic Hydrolyzate, reducing the mortality of infected animals by around 50%.

To promote Bioactio Efficiency and the entire Animal Nutrition portfolio, BRF Ingredients is a confirmed presence at FENAGRA 2024, which takes place on June 5th and 6th. In your point of view, how important is the fair for Aquaculture in Latin America? And what are your perspectives for this year’s event?

Fenagra is a consolidated event where we technicians update ourselves on new technologies and products. Furthermore, the event provides a network between technicians and brings together companies that supply technologies, products and equipment with the production sector of the food industry.