Building A Better Bean Story

This post was originally featured on Forbes on October 31, 2016.

Post written by Dr. Thomas Clemente. Dr. Clemente holds the Eugene W. Price Distinguished Professorship in Biotechnology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

GMO Answers launched its third annual ‘Get to Know GMOs’ month this October to answer consumers’ most pressing questions about GMOs. Throughout the month, GMO Answers is posting a series of five articles for ‘Get to Know GMOs’ month. This post is our fifth installment.
 

My research program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where I have served on the faculty for the past 20 years, targets the genetic improvement of the major commodity crops pertinent to the state and the region, including soybean, sorghum, wheat and corn. The long-term goal of my program is to improve upon both the quality and yield of the harvested crop.

The soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) was grown across an estimated 83.7 million acres in the United States during the 2016 season, of which 5 million acres are planted in my state of Nebraska. The farm gate cash value of this soybean harvest is $38 billion, reflecting the importance of this oilseed to the bioeconomy of the country. Importantly, in many Midwestern states, agriculture can account for over 20% of a state’s economy. 

The two primary co-products derived from soybean, protein and oil make up approximately 40% and 20% of the seed, respectively. These co-products are highly sought after in end-use applications in food, feed and industrial applications. The protein component is highly sought after in both the poultry and swine industries, which consume over 65% of the soybean’s high quality protein, while the oil fraction is the major vegetable oil utilized for cooking along with industrial uses, such as a biodiesel, lubricants and heating. Genetic approaches to add value to either of these co-products are ongoing efforts in soybean breeding and genetics programs.

A market in which the soybean can be seamlessly integrated into is aquaculture. A recent Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States (FAO) report communicated that fish accounts for 6.7% of protein consumed by humans, with additional dietary benefits coming from its enriched omega-3 fatty acid oil. Fish consumption is predicted to have strong growth globally. This expected future demand for fish products will put additional strains on the wild fisheries.

One project that was initiated in 2008 focused on improving the quality of the soybean for targeted application in the aquaculture industry for use in feed formulations. The rationale to pursue such a challenge is that feeds for aquaculture are almost entirely dependent upon wild caught fisheries, such as those targeting anchovies, sardines or menhaden. These fisheries are well maintained, and to date, stable, but they are not sufficient to meet even conservative projected growth in fish farming. Hence, the aquaculture industry will require alternative sources of protein and oil for inclusion in aquafeeds.

To meet this expected market demand for fish products, the capacity for farm-raised fish will need to be established. Currently the aquaculture industry sources its protein and oil for aquafeed almost exclusively from wild caught fisheries.

Over the past decade, technologies have been developed that offer a route to displace fishmeal (protein) and fish oil ingredients of aquafeed, with soybean and other agriculture-based sources. An example of such an approach is an ongoing project supported by the Nebraska Soybean Board and United Soybean Board. This project brought to bear the expertise of a diverse set of researchers, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Kampachi Farms, LLC (Kona HI), University of London, and Rothamsted Research. This interdisciplinary team represents areas of expertise in aquaculture, feed formulation, agriculture economics, biotechnology and biochemistry. The goal of this team is to design a sustainable aquaculture feed devoid of marine ingredients, with the emphasis on the three pongs of sustainability; environmental/societal impacts, and economic viability.

Towards this goal a soybean-based aquafeed formulation has been evaluated in feeding trials with a high-end finfish, Kampachi (Seriola rivoliana), farmed on offshore aquaculture cages off the coast of Kona, HI. Researchers at University of Nebraska-Lincoln developed the novel soybean-based aquaculture feed formulation. This formulation displaces approximately 80% of the fishmeal component of the aquafeed with soybean protein along with 50% of the oil component of the feed pellet sourced from a high omega-3 fatty acid soybean oil, developed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The results from a number of feeding trials conducted with Kampachi fed this unique soybean-based formulation revealed that the fish consumed the feed and grew in a similar manner as fish fed a standard commercial diet, which consists of 60% fishmeal and 100% fish oil.

Importantly, harvested fillets from these trials revealed more total omega-3 fatty acids in the Kampachi flesh fed the soybean-based formulation, relative to fillets obtained from control (commercial aquafeed) fed fish. Moreover, a taste testing panel study showed that consumers were unable to differentiate fillets harvested from the soybean-based formulation diet compared to those obtained from the commercial fed diet, in flavor, texture, or appearance. Importantly, cost estimates on the soybean-based formulated aquafeed are comparable to the current commercial formulated aquafeeds.

This team of researchers are further improving upon the novel high omega-3 soybean used in these feeding trials targeting additional value added traits to the oil as a means to boost of the attractiveness of a soybean-based feedstock for the aquaculture industry. To this end, the team is exploiting more recent discoveries that will enable the development of a soybean that will accumulate a vegetable oil that mirrors fish oil in its omega-3 fats, along with the production of the high value ($500 to $1500 per kilogram) carotenoid astaxanthin, which provides the reddish coloring to farm raised salmon and shrimp.

A soybean with these dual value-added co-products is, in essence, the prototype soybean-based feedstock for aquaculture. This genetically enhanced soybean accumulates high value protein,for the displacement of fishmeal, and the improved oil characteristics can effectively displace the fish oil component of aquafeeds.

The technology is in-hand for the development of a soybean-based feedstock, which can sustainably meet the future demands that are expected by the aquaculture industry for protein and oil. The hurdles that must be overcome before such technology can enter the marketplace reside primarily in overcoming the global regulatory issues that govern utility of such innovations by society.