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NOFIMA DOES RESEARCH ON NEW OIL SOURCE

NOFIMA DOES RESEARCH ON NEW OIL

Nofima does research on new oil source. When fish eat plant oil with marine omega-3, they get more omega-3 in their meat, better pigmentation and fewer dark spots.

A new oil was approved by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority this summer, and can be used in fish feed in Norway.

As it is today, the world is unable to produce enough ingredients with marine omega-3 fatty acids. Demand is greater than supply.

Bente Ruyter, a senior scientist at Nofima, has conducted research for many years to find out how farmed salmon should have a higher content of omega-3 in the body. One answer is oil from genetically modified rapeseed.

Oil from canola

“The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has approved an oil that comes from genetically modified canola so that it can be used in the feed for farmed salmon. The plant produces marine omega-3 fatty acids. It is several years of research in collaboration with the industry that has led to us coming this far,” says Ruyter.

Canola is a variation of common canola. The canola that provides the oil that Nofima has researched is then genetically modified further by the Australian research community CSIRO in collaboration with the company Nuseed. The result is that it contains more of the omega-3 fatty acids that salmon need to stay healthy, and that humans benefit from.

“This is an extracted oil,” says Bente Ruyter.

This means that it is extracted from the canola seeds and does not carry any of the genetic material genetically modified in the plant.

“Research has been carried out over many years to see if this oil is suitable for fish feed,” she says.

The researchers have found that it is, and now the Norwegian Food Safety Authority has put a stamp of approval on it.

EPA and DHA

It’s all about the omega-3 fatty acids called EPA and DHA. In nature, it is the microalgae in the ocean that produce such fatty acids. Then crustaceans eat these microalgae, and the fish eat the crustaceans. Thus, EPA and DHA end up in the fish.

In farmed salmon, it has been difficult to get enough of these fatty acids. Therefore, the genes from the microalgae are inserted into the canola plant so that it can also make the same fatty acids. When the oil is used in fish feed, researchers have found that the fish get better performance, more omega-3 and fewer dark spots (melanin spots) and better red color in the fillet.

No more wild fish to pick up

“The production of fish oil is stable in the world: it is not sustainable to fish more wild fish. Therefore, it becomes less and less available every year for an aquaculture industry that is growing,” says Ruyter.

In 2000, fish oil accounted for around 30 per cent of salmon feed. In 2020, the proportion was down to ten per cent.

“Our research has shown that it is not healthy for salmon to go so low. It becomes less robust and the meat gets a poorer color. Ergo, the industry has started to increase the level of omega-3 fatty acids in the feed again,” she says.

Need new sources of omega-3

“The production of genetically modified canola in the world has great potential for growth, and will probably become an important new source of omega-3 in the feed,” says Ruyter.

This makes the fish healthier than if they were only fed standard plant oil – and it looks better, too. The salmon needs a certain level of omega-3 in the feed in order for the fillet to get the delicate pink colour that most people want. Nofima’s research also shows that the omega-3-rich canola oil reduced the incidence and severity of dark melanin spots in salmon fillets.

Nofima has previously shown that the fatty acid DHA has this effect.

In order to document the oil’s properties in salmon, researchers have had to carry out experiments both in fresh water, in closed tanks and finally in cages in the sea. All the while, they have had to make sure that nothing disappears into the surrounding nature. Then they have carried out experiments in all phases of the fish’s life.

“Now it’s approved for use. Whether the industry adopts it is another matter. But I think it will force its way, says Bente Ruyter.

The project was funded by the Norwegian Seafood Research Fund (FHF), and was carried out in collaboration with the Institute of Marine Research, Nuseed and Mowi.

Image: A new oil has been approved and can be used in fish feed in Norway. The picture shows ordinary rapeseed oil (left) and fish oil. Photo: Helge Skodvin © Nofima

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