This paper will provide an overview of results obtained from screening and characterising different types of agricultural wastes in Australia and their effectiveness in producing Artemia under laboratory conditions, with a view to commercial application. The goal is mass production of Artemia biomass as live food in aquaculture, feed ingredient and possibly human nutrition, while also remediating high-volume waste, produced by the alcohol industry particularly.
Wastes were characterised using different physico-chemical and biological parameters in both original form and after aerobic digestion, with or without further processing or enhancement. Quality of wastes and the Artemia grown on them in terms of nutrients, fatty acids, microbial community, metabolites, and heavy metal uptake was evaluated to determine which wastes have the potential for commercial use.
Distillery dunder from bioethanol or rum production using molasses are excellent food sources for large scale Artemia production. The prospect of using vinasse from rum production using other types of sugar, and waste from brewery, winery and the livestock industry that require further processing or enhancement will also be discussed.
Single-cell proteins in aerobically digested waste is the key to large-scale, good-quality Artemia production.