Most koi feed brands make claims. Very few have university research behind them.
In 2023–2024, Life Origin partnered with UCSI University and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) to run a controlled feeding trial on juvenile koi (Cyprinus rubrofuscus). The goal was simple: test whether BSF-based protein could genuinely outperform conventional fishmeal-based commercial feed — not in theory, but in a controlled tank environment with real measurements.
Here’s what the data showed.
Growth: More than double the weight gain
Over 42 days, koi fed on the BSF-based diet gained an average of 17.10g. Koi fed on the commercial pellet diet gained 7.42g over the same period.
That’s not a marginal improvement. That’s 130% more growth from the same feeding schedule, same water conditions, same tank size. If you start with a 25g juvenile, the BSF-fed fish finishes the trial period at roughly 42g. The commercial feed fish finishes at around 32g. In the ornamental koi trade, that size difference sits in a different price bracket entirely.
Feed efficiency: You spend less to grow more
Feed Conversion Ratio — FCR — is the number serious breeders watch closely. It tells you how much feed is required to produce one gram of fish growth. Lower FCR means your fish is absorbing and using the feed instead of passing it out as waste.
The commercial diet FCR in this trial was 19.43. The BSF-based diet came in at 8.32.
Put simply: on commercial feed, you burn through more than twice the amount of pellets to achieve the same growth. On TATSUMI’s BSF formulation, the fish uses what it eats. That efficiency gap compounds significantly when you’re managing a full pond.
The economic analysis from the research backs this up. The profit index of the BSF-based formulation was 4.22 versus 1.15 for the commercial diet. Same fish, same feeding period — the BSF diet produced nearly four times the economic return per kilogram of fish raised.
Why BSF protein works differently in the body
The research didn’t stop at growth measurements. Liver samples from the BSF-fed koi were sent for genetic analysis, which revealed something interesting: the fish fed on BSF protein showed measurable upregulation in digestion-related genes — specifically enzymes responsible for breaking down protein more completely and absorbing it more efficiently.
In plain terms: BSF protein triggers better digestion at a biological level. The fish extracts more nutrition from every gram of feed. This is why the FCR drops so sharply — it’s not just that BSF protein is high quality, it’s that the fish’s body responds to it differently than it does to conventional fishmeal.
Immune genes also showed positive changes, along with antioxidant markers — suggesting that the benefits go beyond growth and extend into overall fish health and resilience.
Growth velocity: Nearly double the daily growth rate
The Specific Growth Rate (SGR) — the percentage of body weight gained per day — was 1.20% for the BSF-fed group versus 0.63% for the commercial feed group.
For breeders with target sale sizes or competition timelines, faster SGR means shorter grow-out periods. Faster turnover. More predictable inventory.
What this means for your pond
TATSUMI is formulated on this BSF protein research base, with the colour-enhancement layer from red dragon fruit peel built on top — which is a separate story covered in our next article.
If your current feed isn’t delivering the growth rate or body structure you expect, the data above points to why. It’s not water quality. It’s not stocking density. It’s protein bioavailability — and that starts with what’s actually in the pellet.
