Nuseed
This year, West Sacramento, California-based Nuseed announced that it has successfully completed trials of its new product Aquaterra, a canola oil containing omega-3 fatty acids built to be a verifiable replacement for fish oil in aquaculture feed. Nuseed researchers achieved this outcome by adding microalgae genes to canola. While genetic insertions have been done for years in a variety of plants and animals, most of these involve only one or a few genes, according to Benita Boettner, Nuseed’s omega-3 global general manager.
“We have seven microalgae genes. So, it’s a very complex and sophisticated structure or construct,” Boettner told the Advocate.
Inserting seven microalgae genes proved difficult – initially the first 100 modified canola samples failed. But extensive experimentation eventually led to canola that had a consistent yield in terms of desirable oil. Tests reportedly show that the oil from the Nuseed canola has triple the percentage omega-3 content as compared to standard canola oil.
Field studies have shown that Nuseed’s canola oil can provide a benefit when used in feed. The company worked with partners to conduct three commercial scale trials in Chile in 2018 and 2019 on Atlantic salmon, the company’s initial target market for its product. Each site had 16 to 24 cages, with roughly 40,000 to 50,000 fish in each cage. There were both control and experimental groups of fish.
The trials showed a decrease in mortality of the fish fed Aquaterra as part of their diet, with inclusions rates ranging from 1.49 to 1.90 percent. The increase in fish survival resulted in more than 77 metric tons in additional biomass gain in the experimental group over that of the control group.
Nuseed has regulatory approval to grow the canola in the United States, Australia and Canada, Boettner said, with approval for the omega-3 oil in Australia and Canada for use in food and feed. Regulatory approval for food and feed is pending in the United States, and the company plans to pursue approval elsewhere as needed.
Photo courtesy of Global Aquaculture Alliance
