An evaluation of open and closed systems for in vitro protein digestion of fish meal

The availability of a rapid, cost-effective, accurate and reliable method of assessing fish meal protein digestibility would greatly enhance and standardize quality-control procedures in both the fish meal and fish feed industries. However, while several in vitro digestibility tests have been developed, few have been adopted by industry due to their time-consuming nature, problems surrounding reliability and/or inconsistencies in predictive ability. The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the utility and predictive qualities of two in vitro digestion assays of distinct design. Methods examined included a novel open system, wherein on-line removal of digestion products was attainable, and a closed system, which permitted analysis of products following completion of the digestion process. Results provided by the two systems were compared using four differentially processed fish meals. The open system supplied information based upon the detected quantity of products below 10 kDa. The closed system provided measurement of free amino groups. Both methods were in agreement with respect to assessing the presence of hydrolysed product. Both systems furnished complementary data with respect to the characterization of fish meal protein quality. The closed and open systems provided insight upon digestibility and digestion kinetic profiles respectively.