Mycoprotein from Forestry Waste Replaces Soy in Pig Feed
A Swedish field trial demonstrates good digestibility and meat quality with a soy-free diet based on wet fermentation
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For the first time, Swedish-produced mycoprotein has been used in pig production. Made from side streams from the forestry industry, it was included in a soy-free feed developed and tested through collaboration across the value chain. Results show good digestibility, nutritional quality and meat quality, demonstrating the potential to replace soy in feed. The initiative is part of The Feed of the Future for Fish, Pigs, Poultry and Laying Hens, led by Axfoundation and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).
> "We have demonstrated that imported soy can be replaced with Swedish protein > ingredients produced from existing side streams. These ingredients require > significantly less land, improve resource efficiency and can contribute to a > more resilient domestic feed supply,” says Madeleine Linins Mörner, Program > Director of Future Food at Axfoundation.
Around half of the world’s agricultural land is used to produce animal feed. Swedish pig production already uses relatively little soy per kilogram of meat compared with the EU and global averages, even so, Swedish pig production consumes around 39,000 metric tons of soy each year. That corresponds to soybean cultivation outside Sweden covering an area of roughly 10 by 10 kilometers. While soy used in Swedish feed is almost always sustainability- certified, it is still often grown in large-scale monocultures that rely on significant chemical inputs and occupy extensive areas of agricultural land.
At the same time, large volumes of side streams from Swedish forests, oceans and the food industry remain underutilized. Through The Feed of the Future for Fish, Pigs, Poultry and Laying Hens, researchers, farmers, feed manufacturers and food companies are working together to develop innovative circular protein ingredients, including mycoprotein, insect meal and cultivated mussels. These ingredients require only a fraction of the land and inputs needed for soy production.
The soy-free feed used in the pig trial was produced by Lantmännen, Sweden's largest farmer-owned agricultural cooperative, and included Swedish-produced mycoprotein from RISE in Örnsköldsvik made through wet fermentation of side streams from the Swedish forestry industry. The project has also evaluated the nutritional quality and digestibility of Cirkulär's wet-fermented mycoprotein and Dapibuset's dry-fermented mycoprotein.
> "Our analysis shows that both the wet- and dry-fermented mycoproteins > provide good protein digestibility and nutritional quality. The results > demonstrate that these circular protein ingredients can perform well even in > high performing pigs, animals with high requirements for feed quality and > palatability," says Emma Ivarsson, Researcher at the Department of Applied > Animal Science and Welfare, SLU.
Sensory evaluations conducted by specialists from the School of Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Meal Science at Örebro University found that pork from pigs fed the innovative feed matched the reference products in quality, and both the pork neck and pork chop were described as having a more pronounced nutty flavor. The meat is supplied by Kötthallen Sorunda and served for a limited period at Gothia Towers in Gothenburg from September 21.
> "The pork delivered excellent flavor and product quality. We see growing > interest in foods that combine great quality with a lower environmental > footprint," says Mattias Dernelid, Product Manager at Smakriket, Kötthallen > Sorunda.
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