The Feedstuff Institute of the Chinese Academy
of Agricultural Sciences announced on October 30 that China hashad a major
breakthroughs in the field of one-carbon biosynthesis. With this breakthrough,
for the first time in the world, the synthesis from carbon monoxide to protein
has been realized, and an industrial production capacity of 10,000 tons is
already possible in China.
This move breaks through the time and space
constraints of natural protein plant synthesis and provides a national weapon
for making up for the biggest shortcoming of China's agriculture: the excessive
dependence on feed protein from foreign sources. At the same time, it is of
great for meeting carbon dioxide emission goals.
According to Dr. Xie Min, a program scientist
and researcher from the Feedstuff Institute of the Chinese Academy of
Agricultural Sciences, the natural synthesis of protein usually takes place in
plants or specific microorganisms with a nitrogen-fixing function. Natural
photosynthesis forms carbohydrate sugars, and then through multiple complex
biological conversions and enzymatic reactions in the tricarboxylic acid cycle,
the amino acids needed for protein synthesis are formed, and then they are
synthesized into proteins. This synthesis process involves complex genetic
expression, biochemical synthesis, physiological regulation and other
biological processes. Therefore, it is a slow process that is of low material
and energy conversion efficiency, and the final accumulated protein content is
also low.
Clostridium ethanolicum protein more environmentally friendly and with a
smaller land footprint than soybeans
The Feedstuff Institute of the Chinese Academy
of Agricultural Sciences and Beijing Shoulang Biotechnology Co., Ltd have made
a breakthrough in the core technology related to clostridium ethanolicum
protein, greatly increased reaction speeds, and created industrial conditions
for the next step of biosynthetic protein production. This new synthesis
process uses industrial exhaust gas containing carbon monoxide and carbon
dioxide and ammonia as the main raw materials to produce clostridium
ethanolicum protein, and the process coverts 85% percent of its raw material
into protein, which is a world record.
The industrial production of 10 million tons
of clostridium ethanolicum protein (with 83% protein content), it is equivalent
to 28 million tons of imported soybeans (with 30% protein content). This new
process has opened up a new way to produce high-quality feed protein from
low-cost non-traditional animal and plant resources, which can reduce 250
million tons of carbon dioxide and save 1 billion mu of arable land (based on
an average yield of 4500 kilograms of soybeans per hectare).
Clostridium ethanolicum protein is a new
single-cell protein obtained from the fermentation of clostridium ethanolicum
isolated from the intestines of rabbits, as well as CO and CO2 from the exhaust
of from steel plants and power plants, and also ammonia as the main raw
materials. The protein is synthesized through a process of liquid fermentation,
centrifugation, and drying.
Clostridium ethanolicum protein a better quality feed additive than
soybeans
Compared with traditional plant cultivation,
clostridium ethanolicum is 700 thousand times more efficient for producing
protein materials. Clostridium ethanolicum protein has a high nutritional
value, with a protein content of more than 80%, a balanced amino acid
structure, and easy digestion.
At the same time, this protein has excellent
processing characteristics as a feed material, and it is rich in functional
substances such as nucleotides, which is beneficial for feed quality. The
research results show that this protein is of high quality and can be widely
used.
A joint study by the Feedstuff Institute of
the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Shougang Langze found that
replacing 20% soybean meal with 10% clostridium ethanolicum protein feed
greatly improved the growth performance and intestinal health of grass carp,
and the nutritional effectiveness of the feed was excellent, indicating that
the clostridium ethanolicum protein was highly effective. In animal feed, this
protein has the same nutritional potency as fish meal, better than soybean
meal.
For more information, please check our
resources on China’s
Food and Feed market.
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