Insects as sustainable feed and food

Abstract

Submitted 2020-07-06 | Accepted 2020-07-31 | Available 2020-12-01 https://doi.org/10.15414/afz.2020.23.mi-fpap.214-216 Insects are one of the proposed responses to the increasing request of alternative feed/food productions with high production yield and low environmental impact. Insect production offers a new sustainable alternative for unexploited or underexploited resources, in accordance with the waste hierarchy principles. Insects constitute a reliable alternative or addition to feed due to their nutritional characteristics (e.g. protein content, amino acid profile and/or digestibility levels). Edible insects may be part of human foods mostly as ingredients in already well-known products or integration of insect-based foods into existing diets. In the near future research is needed to increase knowledges and support the insect industry to a considerably scale up to reach competitive price and high-quality products. Keywords: entomophagy, novel food, environment, protein, fat Reference Finke, M. D., Rojo, S., Roos, N., van Huis, A., & Yen, A. L. (2015). The European Food Safety Authority scientific opinion on a risk profile related to production and consumption of insects as food and feed. Journal of Insects as Food and Feed, 1(4), 245–247. https://doi.org/10.3920/JIFF2015.x006 Gasco, L., Biancarosa, I., & Liland, N. S. (2020). From waste to feed: A review of recent knowledge on insects as producers of protein and fat for animal feeds. Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsc.2020.03.003 Kroeckel, S., Harjes, A.-G. E., Roth, I., Katz, H., Wuertz, S., Susenbeth, A., & Schulz, C. (2012). When a turbot catches a fly: Evaluation of a pre-pupae meal of the Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) as fish meal substitute — Growth performance and chitin degradation in juvenile turbot (Psetta maxima). Aquaculture, 364–365, 345–352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2012.08.041 Lock, E. J., Biancarosa, I., & Gasco, L. (2018). Insects as raw materials in compound feed for aquaculture. In Halloran, A. et al. (eds.) Edible Insects in Sustainable Food Systems. Springer International Publishing (pp. 263–276). Mancini, S., Moruzzo, R., Riccioli, F., & Paci, G. (2019). European consumers’ readiness to adopt insects as food. A review. Food Research International, 122, 661–678. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2019.01.041 Murefu, T. R., Macheka, L., Musundire, R., & Manditsera, F. A. (2019). Safety of wild harvested and reared edible insects: A review. Food Control, 101, 209–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2019.03.003 Nischalke, S., Wagler, I., Tanga, C., Allan, D., Phankaew, C., Ratompoarison, C., Razafindrakotomamonjy, A., & Kusia, E. (2020). How to turn collectors of edible insects into mini-livestock farmers: Multidimensional sustainability challenges to a thriving industry. Global Food Security, 26, 100376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100376 Sogari, G., Amato, M., Biasato, I., Chiesa, S., & Gasco, L. (2019). The potential role of insects as feed: A multi-perspective review. Animals, 9(4), 119. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9040119 van Huis, A. (2013). Potential of insects as food and feed in assuring food security. Annual Review of Entomology, 58, 563-583. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-120811-153704 van Huis, A. (2020). Insects as food and feed, a new emerging agricultural sector: a review. Journal of Insects as Food and Feed, 6(1), 27–44. https://doi.org/10.3920/JIFF2019.0017 van Huis, A., & Oonincx, D. G. A. B. (2017). The environmental sustainability of insects as food and feed. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 37(5), 43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-017-0452-8 van Huis, A., & Tomberlin, J. K. (2017). Insects as food and feed : from production to consumption. Wageningen: Wageningen Academic Publishers. van Huis, A., Van Itterbeeck, J., Klunder, H., Mertens, E., Halloran, A., Muir, G., & Vantomme, P. (2013). Edible insects. Future prospects for food and feed security. In FAO Forestry Paper (Vol. 171). Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3253e/i3253e.pdf