In this Article
Aquafeeds with spent mushroom substrate (SMS)
Aquaculture has been one of the fastest growing animal production sectors in the world. The ever-increasing demand to supply the growing aquaculture industry, leads to a higher demand for fish feeds production. However, to get a good quality of feed, higher costs must be required accounting for over 50% of the production cost in fish farms. This has led researchers to the search and development for alternative ingredient for aquafeed production. Alternative fish ingredients from locally available products, such as agricultural waste, could further provide benefits in cost savings and reduction of imports.
A good example of agricultural wastes is spent mushroom substrate (SMS), the agro-residues and the fungal mycelium left after harvesting of mushrooms. With the increased production of mushrooms, it is accompanied with the generation of tons of SMS. Due to the presence of highly significant biochemical compounds, studies have shown the potential for their use as a feed source for animals.
The use of SMS can help address the need for an alternative fish ingredient that is cheap and has the potential to improve the profit by incorporating agriculture waste in the formulation.
