Developing novel dietary ingredients or palatants for the pet food industry

New Zealand has a world-wide reputation for producing high-quality hides and skins suited for manufacture of premium leather, with the hide and skin industry in New Zealand creating $400 million pa in export income and providing a significant proportion of the total income from sheep, cattle and deer. To increase the value of this “fifth quarter” of the animal even further, we are developing alternative ways of using the part of the material unsuitable for leather-making – estimated to be 6,500 tonnes which currently goes to waste.

A large proportion of this material is high-quality animal protein which could provide an alternative source of material to fill the growing gap in supply for pet food; either as a manufactured ready-to-eat product or as a food ingredient for inclusion in foods formulated offshore. Pet food has been identified as one of the six best emerging growth opportunity sectors of the New Zealand food and beverage industry, with the value of exported pet food tripling since 2000.

This project will develop methods to prepare and test pet food ingredients derived from these skin byproducts, specifically palatants which are routinely added to dry extruded commercial pet foods to make them more attractive to the animal. This includes "toppers", a range of dry or wet products added to the pet’s meal by the owner at feeding time to enhance palatability and/or provide health benefits.

The project is a collaboration between the New Zealand Leather and Shoe Research Association (LASRA) and Massey University’s School of Agriculture and Institute of Fundamental Sciences, and the products developed will be assessed by in vivo real-time studies at the Massey University Centre for Feline Nutrition.

The student will isolate, characterise and assess the palatability of products derived from the byproducts of the leather industry. The PhD will involve the following stages:
- Review the literature on the nutrient requirements of the domestic cat and the use of palatability enhancers in the pet food industry.
- Develop and refine skin hydrolysis methodology and quantify the resulting peptides and amino acids using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrophotometry.
- Assess the palatability of combinations of peptides and amino acids using cat palatability panels at the Centre for Feline Nutrition.
- Develop predictive multivariate regression models using mid-infrared spectra of the palatant mixtures to allow rapid quantification of palatability of amino acid/peptide blends

Apply by 31st March, submitting a letter of interest detailing your previous research interests and experience, include your curriculum vitae, academic transcripts, and the names and contact details of at least two academic references to [Email Address Removed]