Dr. Ravindra Babu ^1* Sreedevi Padmanabhan ^1* Ravikumar Ganesan ^1* Ezhil Subbian ^1* Thi Thu Hao Van ² Rajaraman Eri ^2*

• ¹ String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India
• ² RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Sustainability concerns have increased consumer demand for non-animal-derived proteins and the search for novel, alternative proteins. The nutritional sustainability of the food system without compromising the nutrient quality, composition, digestibility and consumption is pivotal. As with farmed livestock, it is imperative to ensure the well-being and food security of companion animals and to develop e sustainable and affordable pet foods. The current pilot study was conducted to determine the effect of greenhouse gas-derived novel, fermented protein ingredient in beagle dogs. The greenhouse gas-derived fermented protein is an alternative protein ingredient with optimal nutritional factors and provides traceability, significantly optimizes the use of land and water, and provides sustainability to the feed value chain of canine diets. Three experimental groups consisting of control, 5% and 10% of fermented proteins were included in the study. The present study shows no significant difference in general alertness, clinical symptoms, water consumption and social behavior of dogs between 5 and 10% fermented protein inclusion in canine diets. The diversity of the bacterial community did not change after supplementation with the tested protein source in dogs. Only a few bacterial genera differed significantly in relative abundance between the experimental groups. Feed consumption, faecal scoring, and the microbiome data results of this pilot study on the use of novel, methane gas derived, bacterial SCP as a protein ingredient in the canine diets, would pave way for more and more inclusion of such novel alternative protein sources in the pet food industry.