The global food system faces significant environmental challenges, and the livestock sector plays a major role in this reality. According to recent estimates, livestock production is responsible for around 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, while producing 1 kg of meat can require approximately 15,000 litres of water. In addition, the European livestock sector remains highly dependent on imported protein sources such as soy. This reliance exposes the market to economic vulnerability and supply instability, revealing a production model that is both resource-intensive and strongly dependent on global supply chains.
To further aggravate the situation, there is increasing competition in cereal production between human consumption and animal feed. This competition intensifies global food insecurity and places additional pressure on already limited natural resources.
New paths to produce protein feed ingredients
Addressing these challenges requires the development of new pathways for producing protein feed ingredients. One promising approach is the use of non-grain feed (NGF), which refers to non-traditional feed ingredients that are not derived from food crops.
In many cases, these unconventional feed materials have a rich nutritional composition and can be more cost-effective than conventional feed sources. Frequently, they originate from by-products or waste streams generated by other industries, making them a potential win-win solution within a circular economy framework. However, some NGFs also present important limitations, such as high fibre content, poor palatability, and the presence of antinutritional factors.
To overcome these limitations and improve the nutritional quality of NGFs, advanced biotechnological processes such as fermentation can be applied. Fermentation can act as a form of biological pre-digestion, enhancing nutrient availability and improving feed functionality.
Understanding fermentation in a few words
Fermentation is a metabolic process in which microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts, and fungi induce biochemical changes in food. During this process, complex molecules are converted into simpler ones. The purpose of fermentation is to enhance nutritional value, improve food safety, and modify the organoleptic properties of food.
Fermentation allows us to produce cheese, yogurt, bread, beer, vinegar, and many other products. It is one of the oldest technologies developed by humans and has been used for millennia.
Today, fermentation is evolving beyond its traditional applications. Increasingly, it is being explored as a tool for synthesising a wide range of valuable compounds. But what if microorganisms could be used as biological factories capable of transforming one compound into another?
Precise fermentation
Targeted, or precise, fermentation represents the technological evolution of one of the oldest biological processes. It is an advanced production approach that incorporates tools from synthetic biology and modern biotechnology.
The main difference between traditional fermentation and targeted fermentation lies in their objectives. Traditional fermentation transforms the entire substrate, whereas targeted fermentation uses microorganisms as cellular builders. The goal is to synthesise a specific high-value compound—such as a protein or vitamin—rather than simply transforming the entire biomass.
How can this be achieved?
Advanced fermentation processes encompass a range of techniques designed to introduce specific modifications to substrates and microbial systems. These include the characterisation and selection of bacterial strains, the use of microbial consortia, synergies between probiotics and enzymes, and even the genetic modification of microorganisms through the introduction of interspecific DNA sequences to produce desired compounds.
Below, we explain some of these processes in more detail:
- Genomic selection of strains: Microorganisms are analysed using genomic and metagenomic tools to identify the most efficient strains for degrading antinutrients or toxins.
- Microbial consortia: Different microbial species are combined to work together, enhancing their collective metabolic capabilities.
- Microbial-enzyme synergy: The combined action of microorganisms and enzymes improves substrate degradation and increases nutrient release.
- Adaptive evolution: Strains are adapted through screening processes based on natural selection to enhance their protein production capacity without direct genetic modification. In this approach, microbial populations are exposed to stressful environments to stimulate beneficial adaptations.
- Gene assembly: Through genetic modification, specific DNA sequences are introduced into microorganisms to produce targeted compounds.
- Synthetic biology: This represents the most advanced approach. Rather than introducing a single DNA sequence, entire metabolic pathways are redesigned to optimise the production of specific molecules.
It is also important to highlight the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in advanced fermentation processes. AI tools can support strain selection, process monitoring, efficiency optimisation, and cost reduction in bioprocesses. Applications of AI in this field are expanding rapidly and could be explored in greater depth in a future article.
What is the role of NUTRIFEEDS?
Within this context, NUTRIFEEDS uses advanced bioprocessing techniques and microbial innovation to transform plant-based by-products and side-stream materials into protein feed ingredients for the livestock industry. The main challenge is to increase protein digestibility, improve bioavailability, extend nutrient shelf life, and reduce antinutritional compounds.
Digestibility can be improved by using microorganisms to break down complex compounds into simpler forms that are easier for animals to absorb. Many plant-based ingredients contain high levels of crude fibre that certain animals cannot efficiently digest. Through fermentation, this fibre can be converted into monosaccharides, disaccharides, and amino acids, allowing animals to absorb nutrients more efficiently without requiring complex digestive processes.
Additionally, beneficial metabolites are produced during fermentation, further increasing the nutritional value of the feed.
Another important aspect concerns antinutritional factors (ANFs). These ANFs are compounds—such as phytic acid or non-starch polysaccharides—that can inhibit nutrient absorption or negatively affect digestion. Fermentation can significantly reduce their concentration, thereby increasing the availability and assimilation of minerals and vitamins during digestion.
A further advantage of fermentation is the extension of nutrient shelf life. During the process, bacteria typically produce organic acids that lower the pH and inhibit the growth of pathogenic microorganisms. The result is improved preservation, enhanced feed safety, and better conservation of nutrients.
Looking ahead
Advanced fermentation represents a powerful opportunity to rethink how feed ingredients are produced and integrated within livestock systems. By transforming underutilised biological resources into high-value nutrients, these technologies help shift the food system away from linear models and toward a more circular and resilient future.
Through its research activities and Innovation Pilots, NUTRIFEEDS aims to demonstrate how microbial processes can unlock new pathways for sustainable animal nutrition—reducing environmental pressures while strengthening Europe’s capacity to produce feed locally and responsibly.