4. Insects as protein source

Why Insects?

Recently, there have been more and more reports and projects on the production of food and feed from insects. Of course, there are a few things to bear in mind if a certain type of insect is to be bred on a large scale, which should not lead to undesirable side effects. You can find out what is behind this and how it works below.

If the world's population continues to grow, but land and water resources remain the same, there will eventually be a shortage of food. One idea to counter this and produce a large output of nutrients with as few input resources as possible is the production of proteins and fats with the help of insects.

However, the breeding and alternative use of insect proteins only makes sense if organic waste rather than staple foods is used for their breeding. The Black Soldier Fly is therefore being researched in many projects and is considered a promising candidate for commercial use (Fraunhofer 2019, DBFZ 2021).

However, the most promising area of application for insect proteins at the moment is the animal feed market, as there tend to be reservations and defensive reactions against insects when it comes to food for human consumption, especially in Western societies. In Asia or Africa, however, it is quite common to eat insects.

However, insects are very suitable as animal feed, as they are already on the menu of many species (e.g. chickens, predatory fish, pigs). For example, experiments have been carried out that demonstrate that replacing conventional feed, e.g. from soy or fishmeal, in chicken farming has a positive effect on both meat quality and the economic result (Kim et al. 2019). However, the use of farmed insects as animal feed, e.g. for exotic pets and zoo animals, is nothing new.

Species whose suitability as a basis for protein production has already been well documented or is already being practiced:

Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens), beetle larvae (e.g., Large black beetle), Mealworms, Silkworms, Grasshopper