Shrimp Processing Waste in Aquaculture Feed: Nutritional Value, Applications, Challenges, and Prospects

The global shrimp processing industry generates substantial amounts of solid waste (head, abdominal exoskeleton, and tail), with a considerable part currently being disposed of in landfills. It holds significant potential as an alternative ingredient in aquaculture feed due to its relatively high crude protein content, balanced amino acid profile, and presence of bioactive compounds. However, one of the main challenges with shrimp processing waste is its rapid spoilage. Consequently, shrimp solid processing waste must undergo further refinement to produce shrimp-derived products suitable as aquaculture feed ingredients, such as meal, hydrolysate, or silage. This literature review describes the nutritional value, applications, challenges, and prospects of these shrimp-derived products in aquaculture feed. Among the investigated shrimp-derived products, shrimp hydrolysate has the highest nutritional value considering the high crude protein content, balanced amino acid profile, low chitin content, and low ash content. However, producing shrimp hydrolysate requires extensive processing, which can be costly, limiting its applications to high-value aquaculture species. On the other hand, shrimp meal and shrimp silage, which require less energy-intensive processing, may be more suitable for lower-value aquaculture species that naturally consume feeds high in ash and chitin. The prospects for using shrimp-derived products in aquafeed are promising, with advances in processing technologies showing potential to reduce costs, improve nutritional value, and enhance product quality and safety. Ultimately, shrimp-derived products could replace current aquafeed ingredients while simultaneously utilizing current shrimp solid waste streams, provided that quality and safety measures are carefully considered.