Industrial processing technologies for insect larvae

Abstract

For an economic production of safe and standardised products from commercially reared insects larvae for food and feed, industrial processing technologies for insects processing are needed. Protein meals for feed and food produced from insect larvae typically vary in fat content. Main factors influencing the fat content are the individual species, the substrate feed during rearing and the time of harvest. However, feed and food industry are looking for standardised products which can be adjusted to the customers’ specifications. Separation technologies to recover insect fat and thereby reduce the residual fat content in the dry meal have been adopted from familiar applications and have been further developed for insect larvae de-fatting. Two major process technologies that are used for industrial applications are discussed in this technical report: dry and wet processing. In comparison, both technologies have their individual advantages depending on the individual application and properties aimed for. Since these processes for lipid separation are joint processes not only low-fat meal is recovered but also lipids recovered can add value as an additional product. In addition, chitin can be separated to increase the protein content in the larvae meal and add value as biomaterial for further processing, e.g. production of chitosan. Moreover, automation and cleaning of complete process lines are important considerations. Especially for future food applications.