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| Hatchery owners to be trained in mass production of substitute |
Named ‘Marine Single Cell Detritus,’ the product was derived from seaweeds by a team of three scientists at the institute led by S Felix, Professor of Biotechnology Centre.
Speaking to The Hindu, V. K. Venkataramani, the FCRI Dean, said that the feed was developed through enzymatic and fermentative treatment of seaweeds in two phases.
In the first stage, the seaweeds were treated with an enzyme which led to the formation of single cell units. The ‘enzymatic digest’ was then treated with bacteria and yeast in the ‘fermentative phase’ to form the product.
According to Dr Venkataramani, a series of tests conducted by the institute proved that MSCD had distinct advantages over traditional feeds like micro algae cultures and imported feeds like ‘artemia cysts,’ used widely in marine hatcheries across the country now.
The MSCD is 20 per cent less expensive than artemia cysts and its manufacturing process is simpler than that of micro algae cultures.