Research group: Monogastric nutrition

Birger Svihus

Research group: Monogastric nutrition

The research group "Monogastric nutrition" is a new priority area at UMB. The group focuses on such issues as developing new fish feed technologies and research. Other areas of the group's work are based on longstanding traditions at the department, e.g., research on poultry and fur-bearing animals. Recently, there has also been increasing focus on canine research. A major area of interest is the study of different dog breeds' nutritional requirements and the effect of physical activity.

Monogastric animals include fish, pigs, poultry, fur-bearing animals and dogs. At the Department of Animal and Aquaculture Sciences, mink are used to model digestibility in other monogastric animals. The research group is involved in the cooperation of six studies on poultry, and five on dogs. For more information, please see the project description.

The group has close ties to the APC (Aquaculture Protein Group). The aquaculture industry is developing rapidly, and the limiting factor for this development is the lack of feed raw materials. Alternative protein sources include plant-derived protein, single-cell protein or marine organisms further down the food chain. The research group will focus considerably on generating new, basic knowledge about such alternatives. Other research topics include the development of new, sustainable feed sources for aquaculture, and the study of how non-natural ingredients affect fish physiology and behaviour.

Finally, the group is also significantly involved in feed technology, including the development of alternative raw materials and new production methods for feed for different monogastric animals.


Updated: 14.02.06
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