Using restaurant food waste as feed for Nile tilapia production

Abstract

More than 40% of human food produced is wasted and much of it in restaurants.Two 8-week feeding experiments were performed to evaluate the suitability of using restaurant food waste to supplement commercial feed (CF) in the aquaculture of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus. In the first experiment, five feeding regimens in which CF was substituted by waste-based feed at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% of daily offering were evaluated. Results show that 25% of the CF can be replaced with waste-based feed without any significant effect on survival, growth, feed conversion, hepatosomatic, viscerosomatic (VSI) indices, haemoglobin, haematocrit and total plasma protein (TPP). In the second experiment, seven feeding treatments were evaluated in which daily offerings of CF were alternated with waste-based feed in 6-day cycles. Results suggest that replacement between 25% and 33% is feasible without significantly affecting survival or growth. Again, no significant differences were observed in growth, feed conversion ratio, VSI, haemoglobin, haematocrit and TPP. Findings suggest that around 25% replacement of CF with Lebanese restaurant waste-based feed can be utilized in the culture of O. niloticus thus improving financial returns of farmers while reducing the environmental impact of food waste.

Bioprocessing post‐consumer food waste for use as a fish feed ingredient

“…Fish consumed the various feeds equally, suggesting that FWY incorporation in the diets did not affect palatability. Previous attempts to partially replace aquafeed with non‐bioprocessed post‐consumer restaurant FW were only successful at 25% replacement for tilapia (Nasser, Abiad, et al, 2018) and 25% for rainbow trout ( Onchorhynchus mykiss ) (ZeinEddine et al, 2021). The 15.3% increase in protein proportion of the FW after bioprocessing probably explains present results.…”

“…Such food waste is a good source of nutrients and can substitute major aquafeed ingredients (Wong et al, 2016). However, FW is not a complete source of nutrients for fish as the waste lacks certain vitamins and minerals, has a relatively low protein content and has a large omega‐6 to omega‐3 fatty acid ratio (Castrica et al, 2018; Georganas et al, 2020; Nasser, Abiad, et al, 2018; ZeinEddine et al, 2021). Therefore, in order to successfully use FW in aquafeeds, manipulations for nutritional improvements are necessary.…”

Literature review on fermentation factors of restaurant organic waste affecting feed quality

“…The addition of 8% probiotics improved the nutritional quality of restaurant waste, which was fermented into animal feed ingredients with a protein content of 50.83%. (Nasser et al, 2018) 3 Clostridium sp. and Bacillus sp.…”

Recycling and repurposing food waste as feed for small-scale zebrafish (Danio rerio) aquaculture

“…Unlike the production of capture fisheries, which is based on the natural productivity of the local ecosystem, the cultivation of farmed fish is dependent on external feed inputs (Tacon and Metian 2015) [21] . Utilizing nontraditional feeds such as food waste to supplement or replace commercial feed should decrease the cost and increase the sustainability and stability of aquaculture (Nasser et al 2018) [15] . Several plant and animal-based protein alternatives are available and used in industrial aquaculture feeds, and with appropriate economic and regulatory incentives, transitioning to alternative feedstuffs could accelerate (Naylor et al 2009) [17] .…”