2006-06-18
Author: 800 CHAB News


Although canola is one of Canada’s most important and widely grown crops, volatile market demand is a problem for producers. This volatility is the result of only having one high value product to market—canola oil— which only makes up 40% of the crushed seed. The remaining 60% is currently used to make a low-value feed meal.

MCN BioProducts has come up with a new technology that creates high quality products from the 60% of the canola seed that has, until now, not been very profitable. The company has developed a fractionation process that produces a high-protein concentrate. MCN was able to do this with funding from Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Saskatchewan (ACAAFS) and industry councils from Manitoba and Alberta.

The concentrate’s nutritional value is comparable to fishmeal and can be used as a vegetable alternative to other products of animal origin such as meat and bone meal.
The canola protein concentrate could prove very useful to the aquaculture industry, one of the world’s fastest growing food production industries.

“The increased demand from the aquaculture industry places demands on fishmeal supplies,” says David Maenz, Chief Scientific Officer of MCN “which in turn results in unstable and high prices, creating a demand for quality vegetable alternatives to fishmeal.”

MCN’s protein concentrate may be the answer to the problem. Trials have already been done with rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon, which responded well to the replacement of
fishmeal with the canola protein concentrate.  The concentrate has shown positive results in pig trials as well, and could be used for many other applications. “Wherever fishmeal is used, we would see our product going in, and also expect to see it as a replacement
for meat and bone meal,” says Maenz.

MCN is currently looking at sites to construct a commercial plant to demonstrate the process and help establish a demand for the products. MCN then plans to licence the new technology for use in plants around the world.

The success of the project would greatly affect Saskatchewan, which accounts for 40% of Canada’s canola production. “Instead of shipping out a very low-value meal, we would be processing the seed to higher value products at the location of the growing,” says Maenz. “Stabilized crushing margins will have a positive effect on canola acreage and add value to
Saskatchewan’s farming sector.”

For more information, please contact David Maenz: phone (306) 956-2030; email maenz@mcnbio.com