Fast-food giants like McDonalds are investigating the possibility of using insects with high protein content as chicken or fish feed.
Particularly suitable for this are the larvae of the black soldier fly. It is fed with old bread or rotten fruit and vegetables.
There are already farms around the world experimenting with it. In Holland, Buhler invested 50 million euros in 2017 and developed the "fiendly salmon" (sympathetic salmon) brand. In aquacultures fish should be fed with insects. You can use it to replace fishmeal or soya flour.
The savings potential for vegetable protein is estimated to be 5 to 10%. Larvae of Hermetia illucens, because of their dietary intake of organic waste of all kinds, are of great interest for use as feed in livestock breeding, as they could both be produced cheaply and contribute to waste utilization. The high protein and fat content and the soft consistency of the larvae makes them particularly interesting as a substitute for fishmeal and fish oil, whose production stagnates due to declining catches and subsequent legal restrictions, which leads to rising prices.After food experiments, the larvae are better than fish food suitable as possible substitutes on a vegetable basis. After appropriate preliminary tests, use in poultry production is also conceivable. Compared to other insect larvae favorable properties are the longer life cycle (more than three weeks, compared to about five days in houseflies) and the greater final weight thus achievable and the fact that the maggots for pupation leave the food substrate, which makes the harvest much easier. In poultry production, they could be fed by the waste of the production itself, which would lead to partially closed nutrient cycles. Unfavorable properties are the fatty acid profile with very much saturated fatty acids, which also affect the profile of the final product; a high proportion of saturated fatty acids in the diet is nutritionally considered to be potentially questionable. When using waste as a breeding base, there are also hygienic concerns.
A possible use of the larvae of the black soldier fly as food insect has been tested, but has so far barely exceeded preliminary tests. Eine traditionelle Nutzung als Nahrungsmittel ist weltweit nur bei einem Volk, den Kadazan-Dusun in Sabah (Malaysia, Ostasien) nachgewiesen. Sie ist auch hier rückläufig und wird von der jüngeren Bevölkerung mit Armut und Rückständigkeit assoziiert. Probleme bei der Nutzung in der menschlichen Ernährung sind die Ernährung aus Abfällen, die für das Image bei der Vermarktung hoch problematisch ist, und das ungünstige Fettsäurenprofil. Die Soldatenfliegen-Larven sind weich und ähneln in der Konsistenz dadurch nicht Fleischprodukten, sondern ähneln eher fetten Ölen. Es wird über einen eher unangenehmen Geruch berichtet, während die geschmacklichen Eigenschaften unterschiedlich bewertet werden, aber zumindest von Einigen als akzeptabel eingeschätzt werden. Durch die genannten Probleme erscheint insgesamt ein Einsatz in der Tierzucht weitaus wahrscheinlicher als ein solcher für die direkte menschliche Ernährung. Sie wird auch von der FAO nur als mögliche Alternative in extrem ungünstigen Ernährungsszenarien für die Menschheit erwogen.
Text: HANSA Terminhandel GmbH / Quellen: Wikipedia / Reuters
