Canada Approves Cultivation of Nuseed Omega-3 Canola
Nuseed has the first land-based source of the essential long-chain omega-3 to be commercialized. This new output trait is set to meet the major global deficit of omega-3 essential fatty acids in human diets and the rapidly growing demand for fish protein. A conservative estimate indicates the world needs about twice as much omega-3 fatty acids as can be supplied by the oceans.
“We started developing our unique Value Beyond Yield “output” plant trait approach for novel oils and proteins about 10 years ago,” says Brent Zacharias, group executive for Nuseed. “We saw output trait seed technology as a key to unlock new agriculture opportunities, which really started the research into omega-3s.”
“This new technology unlocks brand new opportunities and whole new markets for agriculture that we don’t yet serve, and created a whole different perspective of how we can build value chains in an organization to help facilitate that,” he says.
Omega-3 fatty acids are important for human health, but humans are unable to make these critical nutrients themselves. The long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) are essential nutrients found in fish and other marine life. DHA and EPA omega-3s are critical for brain, eye and heart health, inflammation management, and development in children. Fish also require DHA and EPA for optimum growth and health, but can’t make these fatty acids themselves. They accumulate omega-3s from eating other fish. Historically, DHA and EPA have been sourced from ocean-caught fish, however, the ocean cannot provide enough of these nutrients to sustainably supply the rapidly growing aquaculture industry. Crops such as flax and conventional canola only produce shorter-chain omega-3s, such as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). As a result, the aquaculture industry needs alternative sources of omega-3 nutrients.
“DHA is a complex, longer chain fatty acid, making it technically very difficult to produce,” says Zacharias. In 2010, Nuseed formed a research collaboration with CSIRO and the Australian Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), with a goal of being able to produce DHA.
“Recognizing the need to at least double the supply of omega-3 to meet global aquaculture and human market demand, we will need roughly four million acres of our omega-3 canola, which is a significant opportunity for industry,” Zacharias says. “One of the great advantages of utilizing canola as a platform is we absolutely have the scalability to supply that type of a program from our global canola growing regions.”
Nuseed’s omega-3 program included selected genes, previously identified and collected by CSIRO and GRDC through years of marine and grain research, to create the world’s first supply of land-based long chain omega-3s. Researchers were able to stack selected genes from these microalgae together with top yielding elite canola genetics to really accomplish the unique and reliable pathway to a whole new fatty acid within canola. In July 2020, Nuseed received Canadian food and feed approvals for their omega-3 proprietary DHA refined canola oil, which has been deemed to be safe for human consumption, and DHA canola crude oil and meal as safe for aquaculture and livestock feed.
“We are exceptionally pleased to see the recent regulatory approvals in Canada, but need to carefully manage the approval process in other countries as well. Once we get further in regulatory approvals and consult with Canadian canola grower groups and industry, we can jointly decide the sequence and timing to enter the Canadian market.”
“Both the aquaculture and human food markets, including dietary supplements, pharmaceuticals and food fortification, have distinct needs and we are building a very close association and investing in those markets in a very collaborative way,” says Benita Boettner, Nuseed global general manager for omega-3. “The product we are ultimately selling is the oil directly to local markets in Canada and global export markets. About two-thirds of the market volume will go to aquaculture and one-third to the high value human markets.”
Boettner says Canada is the third largest global producer of farmed salmon, and adds that both human and aquaculture markets are poised for significant growth.
“We are utilizing a closed loop system, which means a close partnership with growers and shared success,” Boettner says. “There is also a nice parallel sustainability story where canola production and end use markets complement each other on sustainability goals. The canola industry already has an advanced stewardship strategy, and combined with the improved sustainability metrics of the aquaculture industry, are positive for the entire value chain.”
Nuseed recently completed commercial scale trials with their Aquaterra feed ingredient in collaboration with aquaculture farms in Chile. The results were very positive, with Aquaterra delivering additional benefits of improved health and survivability of the fish. “This study demonstrates Aquaterra is a highly effective, sustainable complement to fish oil for the aquaculture industry,” says Boettner. “The market is not only excited about the performance and health benefits of Aquaterra, but also about the improved sustainability metrics of being able to grow the aquaculture industry with a renewable and scalable source of omega-3 nutrients, while reducing pressure and over-fishing of ocean resources. We have also just concluded human nutrition clinical trials in Canada, the first pilot to test the benefits of the omega-3 oil (marketed as Nutriterra) for human consumption.”
Nuseed has a significant market share of the Australian canola genetics industry and have spent the last six years building on their elite genetics platform and selecting hybrids for the needs of Canadian growers. “With our genetics and genetic parents, we have been able to develop very competitive hybrids with competitive yields and maturity, as well as good weed control options and disease resistance, ” says Roger Rotariu, Nuseed North American marketing lead. “In 2020 we launched a TruFlex product into the commodity canola space as our first launch in Canada. We are also working on multigenic clubroot resistance hybrids, but one of the most exciting things goes back to our Australian heritage and exceptional blackleg resistance performance. The intent of the portfolio is to offer core products that have a range of maturities and yield opportunities, as well as different disease packages suited for different areas across the canola growing region in Canada. The introduction of selected omega-3 canola hybrids to Canada will follow.”
“We know Canada is the world’s largest, most sophisticated highest yielding canola growing region and a critical partner of the future of our omega-3 canola,” adds Zacharias. “We are exceptionally pleased to see the recent regulatory approvals in Canada, but need to carefully manage the approval process in other countries as well. Currently we have a very contained supply chain base out of some key geographies in the U.S. Once we get further in regulatory approvals and consult with Canadian canola grower groups and industry, we can jointly decide the sequence and timing to enter the Canadian market. This is an exciting time and things are moving very quickly toward huge opportunities. It is an opportunity for the whole industry to get behind a different mindset of more end to end value creation with output trait technology. We truly believe in a partnership approach for creating value and sharing value, which is something we think is needed in our industry to create whole new opportunities.”