Copra meal is a by-product of the coconut oil industry. More than 900,000 metric tons of copra meal was produced in 2017, with the Philippines being the top copra meal producer in the world. Its use as a protein source for animal feed however has been limited because of its poor digestibility, poor protein quality, and vulnerability to aflatoxin contamination.

These limitations were addressed through the PECM, which is a product of the bioprocess systems developed at BIOTECH led by Dr. Laura J. Pham to improve the nutritive and feeding value of copra meal through solid-state fermentation technology.

PECM was shown to increase crude protein content from 19 to 34-36% in dry weight basis, while significantly reducing fiber. Beneficial amino acids such as lysine, methionine and threonine were also enhanced by 80-95%.

The development of PECM as a new protein livestock and aquaculture feed ingredient hopes to contribute to ease the reliance on soybean meal importation and instead use what is locally available and abundant in the country.

PECM can substitute the protein contribution of soybean meal by 30-40% in swine diets; 60-80% in broilers and layers; and 80-100% in tilapia, bangus, and shrimp aquacultures without affecting their growth performance. These partial substitutions may translate to savings of about P0.90 to 2.00 per kg of feeds.