Sustainable feed product for shrimp
A NEW feed additive for shrimp has been launched in the Belgian city of Antwerp, at the world’s first plant producing specially designed methionine, an amino acid.
Manufactured by German firm Evonik, the product, called Aquavi Met-Met, is a dipeptide made up of two DL-methionine molecules.
It achieves the same weight increase in shrimp and crustaceans as conventional methionine sources, but uses only half the active substance.
This is mainly due to the fact that the dipeptide must be enzymatically broken down in the digestive system of the shrimp and is therefore available for protein synthesis at the right time. That in turn means that a higher share can be processed.
Aquavi Met-Met is considerably less water-soluble than other methionine sources and therefore does not leach out of feed as quickly. This relieves the burden on the water.
The Antwerp plant’s modular design allows for increasing production capacity in order to meet customer demand.
‘With Aquavi MetMet, we are launching another product for healthy and sustainable animal nutrition,’ said Dr Reiner Beste, chairman of Evonik, at the inauguration ceremony.
‘Based on our scientific and technological expertise, we have developed a product innovation that we can now offer to our customers worldwide.’
Since shrimp farming is concentrated in warmer seas close to the equator, the main markets for the additive are located in Asia, as well as in South and Central America.
Evonik is already beginning to supply customers from these regions with the new product as the plant is ramped up to capacity.
‘We are pleased that Evonik built the first production facility for Aquavi Met-Met in Antwerp,’ said Frank Daman, Evonik site manager in Antwerp.
‘The new plant affirms our site’s key position in Evonik’s global production network for methionine.’