Simple Summary Fishmeal remains a key functional ingredient in aquafeeds, yet its limited availability and price volatility have accelerated the transition toward low-fishmeal formulations. However, effective fishmeal reduction requires more than protein replacement, as fishmeal provides essential nutritional and functional components that support growth, nutrient utilization, intestinal integrity, immunity, and stress resistance. This review highlights nutritional strategies that enhance the performance of low-fishmeal diets, including taurine, phosphorus-mobilizing enzymes, protein hydrolysates, fermented ingredients, yeast-derived products, probiotics, minerals, vitamins, and gut health-promoting additives. Within the species, life stages, diet matrices, and experimental conditions represented in the available evidence, future low-fishmeal feeds should be developed through context-specific formulations and validation aimed at restoring the relevant biological functions of fishmeal-based diets rather than through universal ingredient or additive recommendations.
Fish and fish by-products are rich in high-quality protein and bioactive compounds, but their use in value-added food products is still limited. Fish protein hydrolysate (FPH) has outstanding digestibility and functional properties, making it a potential ingredient for food fortification. However, differences in fish species, hydrolysis methods, and fortification levels can affect nutritional quality and sensory acceptance. This literature review aims to synthesize the latest evidence on the impact of adding various types of fish protein hydrolysates to food products, with a focus on nutritional value, physicochemical properties, and sensory characteristics. The literature review was conducted using the ScienceDirect and PubMed databases following the PRISMA approach. Thirteen eligible studies published between 2015 and 2025 were analyzed using descriptive qualitative analysis. The reviewed studies indicated that FPH derived from salmon, tilapia, seabass, anchovy, tuna, cod, sea bream, and mullet consistently increased protein content, improved amino acid profiles, increased antioxidant activity, and, in some cases, improved mineral content and shelf life. Moderate fortification levels (around 5–10%) provided the best balance between nutritional improvement and sensory acceptance, while higher levels tended to cause darker color changes, texture changes, and unpleasant tastes such as bitterness. Fish protein hydrolysates are promising functional ingredients for nutritionally enriched food products. Optimization of hydrolysis methods and fortification levels is necessary to maximize nutritional benefits while maintaining sensory quality. Further research is needed to evaluate bioavailability and long-term health effects, especially in nutritionally vulnerable populations.
Salsabila Mega Kencono Ganggi, A. Syauqy, G. Anjani et al.· Journal of Health and Nutrit...· 0 citations
Imbalanced dietary intake of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids is increasingly associated with the incidence of chronic metabolic disorders. As the richest plant-based source of alpha-linolenic acid, flaxseed offers an effective strategy to improve the dietary omega-6: omega-3 ratio and thereby support metabolic health. In addition to omega-3 fatty acids, flaxseed is good source of lignans, proteins, micronutrients and mucilage, imparting broad nutritional and functional significance. This review synthesizes recent advances in flaxseed-based fortification strategies and food product development aimed at enhancing both nutritional and functional quality. Specifically, applications in blended edible oils, dairy and meat products, bakery formulations, cereal bars, mucilage and emulsions are examined with respect to improved bioavailability and consumer health benefits. The discussion further addresses opportunities for industrial value-addition and product diversification, positioning flaxseed as a highly promising ingredient in functional foods and nutraceutical formulations. This is a narrative review wherein literature survey was conducted from 2001 from PubMed, PubMed Central, Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus along with books and book chapters.
A. A. Joshi, P. D. Farde, A. Rathnakumar et al.· Food science and technology...· 0 citations
Simple Summary Broiler diets primarily rely on soybean meal and fishmeal, both of which carry significant environmental costs. Insect meal, principally from black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens), is one of the few alternatives that can reasonably close that gap. Beyond supplying a strong amino acid profile, insect-derived ingredients bring lauric acid and chitin to the table, compounds that plant and marine proteins simply do not have, and both appear to support gut health and immune function in ways that go beyond ordinary protein replacement. Feeding trials replacing 5–15% of dietary soybean or fishmeal with insect meal consistently maintain body weight gain and feed conversion ratio within approximately 5% of conventional diet controls; at 10% BSF larval meal inclusion, several trials report numerically superior performance relative to SBM-based diets. At the environmental level, insect production systems can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% relative to fishmeal under circular economy conditions. What remains unresolved is consensus on processing standards, dosing, and the applicability of laboratory findings to commercial settings. Insect meal currently remains more expensive than soybean meal, but cost trajectories point toward narrowing competitiveness at industrial scale. In summary, the evidence supports insect meal as a scientifically credible and ecologically coherent component of a more sustainable broiler sector.
Micronutrient deficiencies persist where affordable diets provide insufficient quantities of bioavailable minerals and vitamins. Pulses are strategically important targets for biofortification because they combine protein, dietary fibre and micronutrients with high consumption in many low- and middle-income settings. Their value, however, is constrained by a recurrent disconnect between increased seed nutrient concentration and demonstrated nutritional benefit. This critical narrative review evaluates pathways by which pulse biofortification can contribute to nutritional security, with emphasis on common bean, lentil, chickpea, field pea, mungbean and cowpea. Literature published from 2000 to 19 June 2026 was prioritised, with earlier seminal evidence retained when necessary. Genetic, genomic, agronomic, processing, bioavailability, human efficacy and delivery evidence was integrated rather than assessed as isolated technical domains. The strongest evidence supports heritable variation in iron and zinc concentration across several pulse species, substantial genotype-by-environment effects, and agronomic responsiveness of zinc, iron and selenium under appropriate soil or foliar management. Yet total seed concentration is an incomplete endpoint because phytate, polyphenols, mineral speciation, cooking losses and food-matrix effects alter the amount ultimately available for absorption. Human evidence is markedly uneven. Iron-biofortified common bean has progressed furthest from breeding through controlled feeding trials, with improvement in iron status and associated functional outcomes in Rwandan women, while comparable efficacy evidence for lentil, chickpea, mungbean, cowpea and pea remains limited. Delivery studies further show that seed access, agronomic performance, sensory acceptance and market diffusion determine whether nutritional traits reach habitual diets. The review therefore proposes a chain-of-evidence perspective in which nutritional security requires simultaneous success in crop performance, nutrient density, retention, bioavailability, consumption and population reach. Future programmes should breed for bioavailable nutrient delivery rather than concentration alone, validate stability across target environments, embed processing and human absorption endpoints earlier in selection, and evaluate adoption and equity at scale.
Omprakash, S. K. Jain, K. Chandra et al.· International Journal of Pla...· 0 citations
Simple Summary Fishmeal is an important but costly and limited protein ingredient in shrimp feed. Clostridium autoethanogenum protein is a promising alternative, yet high-level inclusion levels may adversely affect shrimp growth and health. This study evaluated whether dietary curcumin supplementation in Penaeus vannamei fed a diet in which 50% of the fishmeal was replaced with CAP. Three experimental groups were designed in this study: a fishmeal control, a high-CAP diet, and the same high-CAP diet supplemented with curcumin. After eight weeks, shrimp fed the high-CAP diet showed reduced growth, adverse histological changes in the intestine and hepatopancreas, lower nonspecific immune enzyme activities, and alterations in intestinal microbial community composition. Compared with the high-CAP group, curcumin supplementation was associated with improvements in growth performance, tissue morphology, immune enzyme activities, and intestinal microbial profiles. Transcriptomic analysis suggested that identified changes were associated with metabolic and immune-related biological processes. Because a fishmeal-based diet supplemented with curcumin was not included, these findings should be interpreted specifically under high-CAP dietary conditions. Overall, the results support the potential application of curcumin as a functional feed additive in CAP-based, low-fishmeal diets for shrimp.
Edible fungi should be regarded as complementary functional ingredients rather than simple protein replacements, requiring species-specific formulation strategies, standardized ingredient characterization, and validation under commercial farming conditions.
Marco Valdés, J. Quiñones, Matías Cortés et al.· Animals· 0 citations
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