Fish Protein Concentrate, Fish Flour, Fish Hydrolyzate

Description:  

Fish Protein Concentrate can be prepared from any type of fish or fishery waste. It is prepared from fish by extracting out the oil, screening or settling out the bones and drying, so that the resultant product (Fish Protein Concentrate) is higher in protein *85% to 95 %) and lower in ash content than fish meal. Fish Hydrolyzate is similar to Fish Protein Concentrate, except that the oil and water hasn’t been removed. The fish protein is sometimes enzymatically hydrolyzed, using a combination of enzymes and acids, so that the bone can be more easily removed. The particle size of the Fish Protein Concentrate is smaller than fish meal and more uniform in color and texture. Do to the processing costs associated with producing this product it is more expensive than fish meal and is usually only used in human applications or for very specialized applications primarily in milk replacers. Since its oil content is low the problem of fishy taste occurring in the edible portion is less. 

Feed Handling and Characteristics: 

The quality of the source of materials used to prepare Fish Protein Concentrate will influence the quality of the material produced, if it has been prepared from material that has decomposed, then the histamine, dimethyamine and trimethylamine levels in the finished product can be high. High levels of histamines in fish meal has been thought to cause gizzard erosion and black vomit in poultry to which it has been fed. There are a number of options that can be used to prepare Fish Protein Concentrate (3)(AGRIS 88-082840)(Orejana, 1987). Considerable variation has been found between Fish Protein Concentrates (11)(CAB 761445509)(Pronczuk, 1976). The extent of enzymatic hydrolyzes can vary between batches when no acid is added (43.7% to 61%) and when acid is used (54.0% to 67.9%)(2)(AGRIS 97-166752) author. It is an excellent source of highly digestible amino acids, but its costs normally limit its usage. If available as at a price that is comparable to other supplemental protein sources, it can be used to replace other protein sources. Fish oil residues in Fish Protein Concentrate may cause fishy taste to develop in some applications in monogastric animals.

Caution: 

Any residual fish oils remaining in the meal can cause a fishy taste develop in the meat and eggs produced by monogastric animals.

Feeding Experiments:  

Fish Protein Concentrate has primarily been used in specialized feeding applications with monogastric animals, such as, in milk replacers or starter feeds. Research with ruminant animals has only been done for applications in pre-ruminant animals. It has either been found to improve performance when replacing milk protein in the milk replacer (1)(AGRIS 83-867528)(Su, 1982) or no differences in performance was observed (4)(CAB N199085)(Su, 1982)(16)(AGRIS 93-102323)(Abarzua,1992). Carcass acceptability was improved when Fish Protein Concentrate replaced fish meal when fed to calves (8)(CAB 731410988)(Gorrill, 1975). Several Fish Protein Concentrates were evaluated using broilers, that were prepared from; 1) hake (Pacific Whiting), 2)dover sole and brown rock, 4) Atlantic cod and similar performance was observed (15)(CAB N697131)(Wu, 1984). It has also been fed at 3.5% to 5% in swine starter / creep diets as the only supplemental protein source without reducing performance (5)(CAB N199093)(DeBoer, 1988). Fish Protein Concentrate was shown to have a higher Protein Efficiency Ratio and improved gains in rats as compared to casein (6)(CAB 9414004968)(Atia, 1992). In a trial that lasted five generations Fish Protein Concentrate was compared to casein in a feeding trial with rats (9)(CAB 731411403)(Newberne, 1973) and mice (10)(CAB 731411863)(Newberne, 1973), with no differences being observed. It was found to be more efficient than casein when evaluated in trout (14)(CAB 821448966)(Kellems, 1982).

Nutrient Characteristics: