Novel health & production benefits from yeast fermentation of pulse starch in pet and aquaculture feeds

宠物食品和水产养殖饲料是豆类具有大规模应用潜力的两个主要行业。仅在北美，这两个行业每年的价值就高达数十亿美元，但这些饲料行业需要证明豆类的可接受性和生产效益。这项拟议的研究计划旨在促进这两个市场增加豆类的使用。本研究的主要目的是研究一种利用酵母、细菌和真菌发酵改善宠物和水产饲料中脉冲淀粉的适口性和营养成分的新方法。在饲料中使用微生物发酵不仅可以改善其适口性，还可以提高蛋白质含量、氨基酸分布、改善蛋白质保留率，并具有额外的抗炎（肠道内和全身）益处。以豌豆淀粉为代表的脉冲淀粉，我们将研究发酵豌豆淀粉在肠道内赋予抗炎作用的机制，从而产生多种有益的全身效应，但我们也将研究豌豆淀粉（发酵和未发酵）与蛋白质消化率、氨基酸吸收的相互作用，以确保整体营养不受发酵的不利影响。有了这些信息，我们希望为我们的行业赞助商提供一种新的加工方法和产品，以及改善健康益处的科学证据，可用于大大扩大加拿大种植和加工豆类的当前市场，从而使加拿大经济受益。******

Pet foods and aquaculture feeds are two major industries where pulses have the potential for large-scale inclusion. Both industries are worth billions of dollars per year in North America alone, but proof of acceptability and production benefits for marketing pulses is needed in these feed industries. This proposed research program is directed at facilitating the increased use of pulses in these two markets. The major objectives of this proposed research are to examine a novel method to improve the palatability and nutrient composition of pulse starches in pets and aquaculture feeds using yeast, bacteria and fungi fermentation. The used of microbial fermentation is predicted to not only improve palatability, but to also improve protein content, amino acid profile, improve protein retention and impart additional anti-inflammatory (within the gut and systemically) benefits when used in feeds. Using pea starch as a representative pulse starch, the mechanisms by which fermented pea starch imparts anti-inflammatory actions within the gut to in turn exert multiple beneficial systemic effects will be investigated, but we will also investigate the interaction of pea starch (fermented and unfermented) with protein digestibility, amino acid absorption to ensure that overall nutrition is not adversely affected by fermentation. Armed with this information, we hope to provide our industry sponsors with a novel processing method and product coupled with scientific evidence of improved health benefits that can be used to greatly expand current markets for Canadian-grown and processed pulses, thereby benefitting the Canadian economy.******