SLU news

How can we domesticate food insects?

Published: 15 November 2018

The emerging concept of using insects-as-food is increasingly seen as an environmentally sustainable alternative to traditional animal protein production systems. However, there are some obstacles that are currently preventing the wide-scale implementation of mass-rearing of insects, and these are all based on limits of our scientific knowledge. But thanks to two new project at the Swedish University of Agriculture we will soon know more. Åsa Berggren and her colleagues have received funding from both The Swedish Research Council (VR) and Formas.

Our understanding of domestication ecology in animals is largely based on vertebrate species. Basic insect animal husbandry and intensification of insect rearing is in its infancy. We lack knowledge on how to rear food insects in a sustainable way including the needs of different insect species. In addition, the microbial ecosystem of the consumable insects’ gut is largely unknown, raising fears for public health from gut flora contamination.

House cricket - species of interest

Åsa Berggren and her colleagues at SLU (Joachim de Miranda, Eva Forsgren and Anna Jansson) will study the house cricket Acheta domesticus. It is a species of interest in the emerging insect-as-food industry.

In the two projects the researchers will study patogens and other microbes in the insects. How these microbial communities are affected by what the crickets eat and how this is related to population origin (from wild populations or from the pet food industry). The researchers will also study behavior and health of the crickets.

Direct application

The results will have direct application to insect animal husbandry science, in addition to examining the ecology and diversity of gut microbial communities in insects and how these interact with nutrition, health and behaviour.

At SLU research on crickets as a sustainable food source have been carried out for a few years. Researchers have showed for example that weeds and agricultural by-products work as single ingredients in feeds for crickets.

With already established collaboration with government and business the results from this study will be quick to reach implementation.

Projects

Insect gut microbiome ecology: interactions with pathogens, food quality and behaviour in insects reared for human consumption and received 3,5 million SEK from The Swedish Research Council

Bringing insects to the dinner table:  the role of pathogens, plants and social behaviour on insect production traits ca 3 million SEK from Formas

Follow the research at the blog Crickets as sustainable food


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