A recent study has revealed that Maltento’s high protein digest product, Palate+, has led to substantial changes to the well-being of Rainbow trout, including increased immune system responses and a lower mortality rate. The high protein digest is produced from protein-rich larvae that are farmed from Black Soldier Flies (BSF), one of the few insect species approved to be used as feed in aquaculture in the European Union.
The study was conducted between October and November 2023 by Cape Town-based marine surveyor company MariHealth Solutions, and took place at the Sanlei trout farm in Lesotho. Sanlei is the first African aquaculture business to obtain the prestigious Best Aquaculture Practices certification as developed by the Global Seafood Alliance, indicating the farm’s commitment to established industry standards for environmentally and socially responsible seafood practices.
The study compared the blood proteome profiles between two groups of fish; one was fed food supplemented by Palate+, and the other was fed a standard basal diet.
Dean Smorenburg, CEO of Maltento, explains that the analysis demonstrated enhanced immunity in trout fed Palate+. These fish exhibited stronger immune defense responses compared to those on the basal diet. The boost in immunity is likely due to the presence of Chitin and unique proteins in Palate+, which have been shown to stimulate the fish’s immune system.
The Palate+-fed fish also displayed lower mortality rates than expected. In the study’s report, Professor Vernon Coyne, MariHealth Solutions’ Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder, stated that “in terms of mortalities, it is important to note that C4 [the Palate+ trout cohort] performed better than what would normally be expected at certain periods during the trial compared to C5 [basic diet trout cohort].”
In his veterinarian comment for the report, Dr. B. Spolander added that “it is both very encouraging and interesting that C4 showed such a notable upregulation of immune function pathways compared to C5 where so many important variables regarding immune system comparison were kept the same: genetics, location of cages, water quality variables, and the infectious agent challenge would have been very similar.”
The report recommended further studies due to the “impressive results demonstrated.” Smorenburg is thrilled with the findings and believes this signals a promising future for continued product development at Maltento. He concludes that: “the ground-breaking insights of this initial study underscore the undeniable health benefits of Maltento’s product and demonstrate the advantages of an insect-based, sustainable, protein-rich feed for animals, where Maltento’s products have been proven to increase gut health, immune response and decrease mortality in fish.”
Maltento is a South-African based biotechnology company that specialises in developing innovative solutions for a circular economy and environmental sustainability. The company is quickly transforming the country’s approach to recycling food waste through insect farming. All BSF at Maltento receive a nutritional diet that consists of up to 400 000kgs of agro-processing waste monhtly, including spent grains from breweries as well as left-over rusks and baked goods from bakeries.
With its environmentally-centric production value chain that uses less transport, energy, and water, Maltento products offer the international pet feed industry a healthier, protein-rich diet that will outperform the majority of alternatives based on meat derivatives. Protix, one of the global leaders in insect ingredients for feed and food, recently unveiled the results of a new Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) conducted by the German Institute of Food Technologies on their BSF products and the results were astounding. BSF insect meal was shown to reduce CO2 emissions, while dramatically reducing land and water use, in comparison to meat derivative alternatives from the poultry sector.
Starting as a small pilot project in the world-reknown City of Cape Town, Maltento now boasts a 7000-metre square facility in Epping, Cape Town, with over 65 employees, and has successfully produced 75 metric tonnes of product since its operations began, with the goal of producing 90 metric tonnes by month end and thereafter scaling in its current footprint to 150 by 2025. Its products are currently being exported to markets in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Norway.
Maltento’s products prove that we can secure long-term health benefits for our pets and the aquaculture sector through the study of insect biotechnology, which serves as an environmentally friendly and sustainable solution to the world’s pet food industry.
ENDS
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Contact Natalie Boyd via natalie@omniacounsel.com or +27 84 336 4466
Note to Editors: For a soundbite from Maltento CEO, Dean Smorenburg, please click here. Kindly attribute quotes to Dean Smorenburg, CEO of Maltento. Inspired by insects and nature, Maltento is a sustainable functional ingredient business that offers tailored ingredient solutions for the pet food, aquaculture, and commercial animal feed sectors. Maltento develops traceable, consistent, functional nutrition solutions for the future. With proven functionality and performance in pet and aquaculture diets, Maltento is successfully scaling the distribution of its products and technology on a global scale. For more information, visit their website via www.maltento.com.
