As with each year, I am able to spend time with my family on holiday. And, we often go to the beach. We have a great time and the kids, at their ages (10 & 13) are less dependent on "Dad" to make it through the day. But, we do have a fun time. 

Of course, with greater independence, "Dad" finds himself unoccupied- which means he has time to read a bit of BSF literature, reply to email, and when the time is right- read something fun.

For this trip I am reading "Thomas Jefferson- The Art of Power" by John Meacham. For those that do not know me personally, I truly enjoy reading world history, and I have a special interested in USA history prior to 1861.

But, like I said, I always have time to read BSF literature, which leads me to today's topic- adult matting.

We all know the "heartbeat" of any BSF production facility is the adult colony. If you do not have adults that mate and lay eggs in a predictable pattern, projecting BSF production/waste conversion is extremely challenging. 

What is most interesting is that we recognize this massive limitation, but very little adult biology research is being conducted. I would say there are probably less than a dozen papers on this topic. In fact, I am only aware of one study that actually investigated some aspect of adult biology under somewhat natural conditions. 

Tomberlin, J. K., and D. C. Sheppard. 2001. Lekking behavior of the black soldier fly (Diptera: Stratiomyidae). Fla Entomol 84: 729-730.

Here is a freshly printed paper on adult BSF mating behavior and egg production in a colony. 

Hoc, B., G. Noël, J. Carpentier, F. Francis, and R. Caparros Megido. 2019.Optimization of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens)artificial reproduction. PLOS ONE 14: e0216160.

 The major findings from this article:
1. Increased male numbers accelerated the rate of egg deposition- meaning, females deposited eggs quicker. 
2. More males equates to greater hatch rate. 

I cannot emphasize this point enough- we need more research on this topic. So, for any researchers out there- send me an email if you are interested in collaborating on such an important topic.

Insects as Food & Feed in the News...

Protix Opens New Facility- A great accomplishment for Protix. They like a few others are making great progress with industrialization of the BSF.

Massive Funding for Research on Insects as Feed- great news for colleagues out of the Netherlands! Keep up the great work and best of luck with your research.

Enterra Mass Production- A nice story on Enterra's endeavors in Canada.

Insect-Based Ice Cream? Why not!  - It is quite impressive to see what can be done with insects as far as food. It is no longer simply grow... dry... eat whole.

I am on holiday for the next few days with my family (at the beach getting some sun). But, as my family knows, I have select activities that keep my mind engaged (such as this blog), which is a good thing. Put me in a situation where I do not have anything constructive to do, and I am bound to get into trouble or at minimum aggregate them with requests to "bond" over some outlandish family activity.

So, think of it this way, you reading my blog posts is appreciated by my family as well- not just me. This is a situation where everyone wins. I have fun discussing science with my friends around the world and my family gains a few minutes of peace. Now, moving on to today's discussion... 

So, I was reviewing some recent publications on the BSF and took notice of the diversity of products, or I should say applications, being developed with the BSF as an ingredient. And, if I haven't preached enough previously on this topic, well I am going to try and partially fulfill this assessment now. 

The insects as food and feed industry (more specifically the feed industry) needs to keep pushing forward on product diversification. Right now, we are seeing the whole insect as the product, but I imagine that eventually BSF will be broken down and sub-components of the BSF will be used as ingredients or sold as simplified products themself.

The analogy I use is with livestock. Historically, the whole animal was sold as the product. But, over time, the animal industry has diversified, and these animals are now broken into 100s of different products, which has increased the industry value as well as demand. Think of it this way, we do not go to the store and buy the whole chicken (e.g., feathers, feet, head, internal organs, etc) but typically only a part of it. We need to do the same with BSF; we need to figure out how to deconstruct the insect. I believe doing so will stabilize the market by diversifying the industry. At the same time, the value of BSF will increase.  The sum of the parts is truly greater than the value of the whole as a single unit.

Three articles for you to check out are:

Wang, G., K. Peng, J. Hu, C. Yi, X. Chen, H. Wu, and Y. Huang. 2019. Evaluation of defatted black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.) larvae meal as an alternative protein ingredient for juvenile Japanese seabass (Lateolabrax japonicus) diets. Aquaculture 507: 144-154.

Main Point- I believe this is the first paper to look at the use of BSF with Japanese seabass. They determined a 64% replacement of traditional diet with BSF could be achieved without any negative impacts on fish development.

Mwaniki, Z. 2019. Complete replacement of soybean meal with defatted black soldier fly larva meal (BSFLM) in laying hen feeding programs: impact on egg production and quality. MS. Thesis.

Main Point- First and foremost, this is a student's research for their MS. I am always excited to see more individuals recruited to the area of insects as food and feed- especially with BSF. The use of BSF as a diet for poultry once again looks very promising. However, it should be noted that conversion rates were not the greatest. But, I am not sure if the calculations are correct. Maybe someone else can take a look and verify these numbers. Also, the author indicated the liver and pancreas were a bit enlarged- is this an issue? If so, how can it be corrected through diet formulation?

Lei X.J., Kim T.H., Park J.H., Kim I.H. (2019). Evaluation of supplementation of defatted black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae meal in beagle dogs, Annals of Animal Science, DOI: 10.2478/aoas-2019-0021

​Main Point-This paper was a challenge for me to read simply because the physiological descriptions presented are a bit above my understanding. What I did gather from the article was the inclusion of BSF did not impact the animal. But, do not take my word for it- check it out for yourself and let me know if I missed anything.

Insects as Food & Feed in the News....

South China Morning Post- one of the better articles I have read online that discusses the insects as food and feed sector. 

The Poultry Site- This is a review of IPIFF asking for greater quality assurance measures in insects as food and feed sector. I am reposting this topic as it demonstrates the poultry industry is taking notice of what we all are attempting to accomplish. 

Insects as Meat-  I am a bit surprised that there are individuals referring to insects as "meat". I caution the adoption of this practice as it will potentially create friction between the insects as food and feed industry with livestock, poultry, and aquaculture. The last thing an industry in its infancy needs is to have such large commodity groups seeing it as a competitor rather than a partner. 

I know, a topic probably discussed many times here as well as other discussion boards, publications, news outlets, etc. But, I wanted to bring it up.... just... one... more.... time. Since BSF are so adept at digesting animal waste, why not use it to do so? Now, don't get me wrong. I realize there are matters that need to be considered, such as pathogens, heavy metals, and in-system recycling. And, I strongly recommend a comprehensive plan be developed to evaluate the process and ensure its safety. But, as you will see in the following article (by Chelsea Miranda- yes, I am very proud of her. Chelsea did an outstanding job with her PhD in my lab at TAMU), BSF are very effective at reducing a host of manure types. This paper is just the first of six more to be published (exciting, right?!).  But I challenge you to consider this option and advocate for more research in this arena. If we can create a safe system for recycling such wastes, why not use it?

Miranda, C. D., J. A. Cammack, and J. K. Tomberlin. 2019. Life-history traits of the black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (L.) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), reared on three manure types. Animals 9: 281.

One thing to note with this study is the scale. The size of the size is definitely bench-top. So, don't expect these results to translate to industrial scale.

Insects as Food & Feed in the News.....

Mealworms in your food-  a nice story on our friend, Lars Heckmann at the Danish Technology Institute.

IPIFF hard at work developing standards in EU- A great overview of some challenges faced by the insects as food sector. It also discusses current debate on food hygiene occurring in EU.

Edible insect market currently valued at $25 billion USD- Something I have been advocating for the past couple of years- diversify, diversify, diversify the products produced with insects as an ingredient.

Colleagues at UC, Davis create startup on insects- Nice job, Lydia and company. I wish you the best of luck!

​

While, I would much rather pluck each article published in this issue of the journal, Animals, and use them as individual blog posts (allows me to have about a dozen or more posts just from this one issue), I think (this time), it is better to simply provide you with the link to a great collection of articles on insects as feed.  

Laura Gasco did a great job assembling a team of researchers to present their latest results on insects as a feed source for a variety of livestock, poultry, and aquaculture. I encourage you to check this link periodically as there are new articles being added to the special addition regularly (hint- my lab has one that will be posted soon). 

Special Issue "Insects: Alternative Protein Source for Animal Feed"

​Here are just a few topics covered in the special issue:

1. Mealworm as Feed for Pacific Shrimp
2. BSF as Feed for Rainbow Trout
3. Diagnostics of Insect Meal- Using Mass Spec to Distinguish Types
4. Impact of Mealworm on Gut Microbiota of Poultry
5. Impact of Insects as Feed on Poultry Growth
6. Feed Streams for Growing BSF
7. Yellow mealworm used to Grow Rainbow Trout
8. Impact of Killing Method on BSF Quality
9. Impact of Insect Meal on Fingerling Tilapia 
10. Diet Formulations with BSF as an Ingredient
11. Insect Meal for Growing Ducks
12. Chironomid Meal for Growing Sea Bass (very interesting angle- midge larvae)

Insects in the News.....A Single Special Post
 
Youth Invests Time Developing a Home for Ducks: I met this young lady, Azja, at a 4H poultry show this past week. If you have a chance, visit her website. She is very impressive as she has developed a home for ducks not wanted by their owners anymore. She has also initiated a service where she takes her partner, Cuddle Quack, and his friends to visit individuals (i.e., assisted living homes) that enjoy the company of animals. Cuddle Quack even has a youtube channel, twitter feed (if the link does not work- you can find her on twitter), and facebook page. It looks like Cuddle Quack is also a great friend to Azja as well. Again- very impressive! I truly enjoy seeing individuals as young as Azja involved with her community. Please find her on twitter or facebook and encourage her. I know she would appreciate it.

I am at a meeting in Florida, USA and currently listening to a discussion on disease ecology. So, while the topic is a bit outside my area of expertise, I thought I would quickly post a blog post I have been developing for this week.


This  article evaluated the replacement of soybean oil with BSF larval oil in the diets of poultry. Turns out, if BSF larval oil is used, the meat quality of finisher broilers is not different from that of chickens fed a standard diet containing soybean oil.  But, the authors point out the fat composition of the BSF is sub-optimal for providing healthy meat for consumption. This study is a great contribution as there is simply not enough data available globally to truly know how to optimize BSF as a diet for various livestock. 

Cullere, M., A. Schiavone, S. Dabbou, L. Gasco, and A.D. Zotte. 2019. Meat quality and sensory traits of finishing broiler chickens fed with black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.) larvae fat as alternative fat source. Animals. 


Insects as Food & Feed in the News....sorry- not much coming up this week. :(

Beyond Traditional Meat- nice story on a startup in the insects as food community.

An interesting dissertation out the University of Liege that caused me to pause and reflect a bit on my "purpose" as a researcher and practitioner in the BSF industry. If I am not mistaken, I believe the student is from the Republic of the Congo and is now a professor there (based on my forensic skills and my sleuthing abilities through the internet. The title of his dissertation is:

Agroecological Intensification of Integrated Agriculture Aquaculture Systems: The Case of Smallholder Farms in the Western Democratic Republic of Congo

My reason for sharing this dissertation is really more than just about BSF- well, in part is about BSF... but really about philosophy as related to the industry as a whole. I have always felt the BSF belongs to the global community and can be used to enhance economic growth in developing or developed nations throughout the world while protecting the environment or at minimum reducing our impact on it.

We, the industry, should try to do more to work with others throughout the world to enhance the use of BSF. Based on the work being published and the efforts of many companies to work globally- it is obvious such efforts are being made. And, I often talk about this system not being reliant on "space-age" technology to mass produce. Individuals can mass produce the BSF with simple materials commonly available. The point being, if the conditions are appropriate, anyone should be able to produce BSF.  

In fact, as demonstrated in this dissertation, an integrated approach to sustainable agriculture can alleviate economic pressures on communities without heavy investment from outside entities. And, BSF can be part of this effort.

At the same time, such an approach, while eliminating, or reducing, dependencies on imports to sustain a system, creates community industry where one farmer can feed family, a village of farmers feeds a region, a region feeds a nation, and so on.

Insects as Food & Feed in the News

Insect Sausage and Ice Cream: Boy has this article gained traction!  

Margaret Krome: A discussion on insects as a natural part of the human diet.

Crickets Taste Like Cotton Candy- in Maine? Novel approaches for preparing crickets for consumption by people.

Oviposit in the News!  Congrats Oviposit team on a great article about your company.

​

A little celebration of some recent events before discussing BSF: So, the past two weeks have been fairly hectic in my laboratory (FLIES Facility) at Texas A&M University as I had two PhD students defend (successfully). I could not be MORE proud and excited for Dr. Dongmin Kim and Dr. Chelsea Miranda. Dongmin studied microbe-insect interactions as related to the pathogen causing Buruli Ulcer and mosquitoes. Chelsea studied the ability of BSF and house fly larvae to digest poultry, swine, and dairy manure. They both did an excellent job.  Dongmin is off to the University of Florida as a post-doctoral associate. And, Chelsea is going to continue working with me at Texas A&M University as well as at EVO Conversion Systems, LLC.  It should be noted, I have had 29 students complete their graduate degrees under my supervision- Chelsea is my first BSF PhD and she has set the bar very high for future students.

BSF Paper in the Spotlight this Week:  This paper represents the third by Dr. Barragan-Fonseca that I have reviewed on this forum. This publication, much like the previous two (one of which was her dissertation) is an excellent study of BSF.  It also highlights the importance of balancing nutrition fed to BSF larvae.  

Barragan-Fonseca, K. B., G. Gort, M. Dicke, and J. J. A. van Loon. Effects of dietary protein and carbohydrate on life-history traits and body protein and fat contents of the black soldier fly Hermetia illucens. Physiological Entomology 0.

When I read studies such as this one, I often wonder how companies that work with highly variable food waste overcome this hurdle of variable nutrients result in variable BSF larval output.  I would imagine they have set the basic parameters of the nutrient description in their products at minimums so as to meet country/regional regulations. But, I would also think such variability, if it exists, impacts who will use their products- especially poultry or fish producers as they tend to be very specific with their nutritional requirements for their mass production facilities. Regardless, the take-home message is: pay attention to what you feed your larvae as it will impact their development and production.


Insects in the News!
Insects as Food- a discussion with Professor Arnold van Huis.  A general article about insects as food but it also expands into mass production and the associated challenges.

Edible Insect Festival. My friend and colleague, Joseph Yoon is back in the news. He does such a great job for the industry with spreading the word on insects a real food source that can be quite elegant when prepared by a skilled chef. 

BioMar sees Potential of Insects as Feed.  A short story on the work done by BioMar to develop insects as fish feed.

As you noted, there is a question in my title- I wanted to draw your attention to the regulations currently implemented in the European Union (EU) on the use of BSF as a feed (I'm savvy like that).

Today, I am presenting a paper by my colleagues and friends in the Netherlands. The aim of the paper was to evaluate literature published up to 2017 on the use of BSF to convert materials to protein. They also present current legal status of insect-feeding options in the EU. So, if you are interested in mass production of BSF and selling your product in the EU- this article is a definitely a great resource.

The basic conclusion from this article is the use of BSF to recycle wastes can be beneficial to the environment. The recycling of waste materials reduces potential pollutants; however, this benefit was dependent on what was being fed to the BSF larvae. 

The authors present a number of valuable tables outlining the studies reviewed. These tables include, but are not limited to, dry matter reduction based on resource, nitrogen reduction based on resource, environmental impact as related to global warming potential (GWP), energy use to produce, and a comparison with traditional feeds, such as soybean meal and fishmeal.

Bosch, G., H. H. E. van Zanten, A. Zamprogna, M. Veenenbos, N. P. Meijer, H. J. van der Fels-Klerx, and J. J. A. van Loon. 2019. Conversion of organic resources by black soldier fly larvae: Legislation, efficiency and environmental impact. Journal of Cleaner Production 222: 355-363.

​Insects as Food and Feed in the News!!  I thought I would try this small addition to the blog a few more weeks. If well received, I will continue doing so. 

Edible insects' boost food sustainability, but will consumers eat BBQ-flavored bugs? Nice article out of UK, I believe, discussing the benefits of insects as food. Pay attention- at the bottom of the article is a link to a more in-depth discussion of the topic.

Insects: The Other (other) White Meat?  I enjoyed this article a lot. First, it made a reference to the Philip K. Dick classic book adapted to film, Bladerunner (although they referenced the sequel... but I understand why). And second, the author presents a case that insects as food is not as crazy as it sounds when you consider what other interesting items people consume fairly regularly... well.. some of them anyway (font in maroon for the one I suspect is the lead item consumed):

• Sauerkraut: shredded cabbage (itself pretty rank in my book) fermented with bacteria
• Haggis: sheep heart, liver, and lungs, mixed with meat, oatmeal, and seasoning and packaged in sheep stomach — ‘nuff said, sorry Scots!
• Foie Gras: fattened duck/goose livers
• Durian: a fruit with a smell described as a mix between a loaded diaper and wet socks
• Castoreum: Beaver anal secretions, subs for vanilla and raspberry flavors
• Blue Cheese: Deliberately moldy (Penicillium fungus) cheese
• Alcohol: Glorified yeast urine (the truth hurts)

Business Article on AgriProtein out of South Africa. A nice article highlighting the successes of AgriProtein- worth the read... images are pretty cool!

Global Economy, an Example: Jiminy & Ento Work Together to Produce Crickets as Food. A nice read about two companies worlds apart working together. This article has some nice photos as well. 

As you know, through this blog I have been reviewing the literature published on the black soldier fly. Initially, I focused on the older literature from the late 20th century (yes, I phrased it that way to make it seem like it was a life-time ago) and more recently I have been posting literature as it is published.

Well, I plan to continue doing so- discussing the literature; but, I wanted to add a new section.... something that I would like to have as a weekly occurrence- "insects in the news". The point of this new section is to give you something a little more "light" in terms of reading, or listening in some cases, in combination with the more dense science articles. Of course, the frequency of my posting on such topics will depend on the frequency in which such information is discussed in the news. So, in order for me to be comprehensive I am going to depend on you- the reader. Please feel free to send me anything on insects as food and feed that you come across. You can send it to me through the EVO facebook page or this blog. If I see it, I will discuss it here. 

Focus Article This week:

Bertinetti, C., A. C. Samayoa, and S.-Y. Hwang. 2019. Effects of feeding adults of Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) on longevity, oviposition, and egg hatchability: Insights into optimizing egg production. J Insect Sci 19.

Interesting article focused on feeding adults to increase production. The authors provided adult BSF with different substrates (e.g., milk powder mixed with water- think porridge) to determine the impact on egg production. Based on their results, they increased egg production 3X!!! Also, it should be noted, hatch rate remained relatively constant across treatments. So yes, they increased egg production without sacrificing hatch rate. I have tried to replicate their results with little success to date- however, I plan to continue working with the system to determine if I can get similar results. 

If this system proves true- what a great opportunity for optimizing BSF production!  Because as we all know, egg production and hatch rate are major bottlenecks with BSF production.


Insects in the News!

Organic Certification of Insects Farms: Feed as an Issue lays out support through the organization, International Platform of Insects for Food and Feed (IPIFF). I have been impressed with the  streamlined, efficient, and focused approach IPIFF has taken to developing the insects as food and feed industry. However, while the title indicates international, I am curious as to how their position reflects global interests in the industry as it appears to be more of an European Union perspective. Maybe their name should be the EUPIFF?  I digress... I should be discussing the article, right? The article lays out three interesting components of insect farming as related to the topic. 

Food Mondays: Are Insects the Food of the Future? This is a radio show out of Chicago. If you have 15 minutes- it's worth a listen.  The topic is much more broad than BSF- as they discuss crickets as well. Pretty good show. I enjoyed it.

8 Insect-Based Pet Food and Animal Feed Startups. Definitely an interesting read- many of the top companies globally are discussed in the summary. The authors point out the volatility of the industry but also recognize the potential for the industry to solidify itself globally. Great to see Beta Hatch out of the USA made the list! 

The Explosion of Insect Protein. A great read about the basic drivers of the insects as food and feed industry. For anyone that is aware of the global need for protein while protecting the environment- worth the few minutes investment to read the article. Hats off to EXO and Chapul for being part of the discussion. 

Add Crunch to to Purdue Spring Fest. I enjoyed reading this article for a couple of reasons- yes, insects as food is cool. But,I really like the out-reach approach to educating others on the use of insects as food and feed. My hope is all companies in the industry develop an outreach arm of their business. Educate the public and create customer demand... Even better, invest in the education of our youth and future customers will be established.  As a side note- I like reading articles about my good friends and colleagues, Joseph Yoon of Brooklyn Bugs, and Andrea Liceaga of Purdue University.