ARTICLE 50 F&A Alternative Proteins Edition April 2023 acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) when the larvae feed on substrates such as fish or shellfish (Ewald et al., 2020). This is particularly interesting as these two fatty acids are usually not found (or present in only trace amounts) within black soldier fly oil. Feeding black soldier fly larvae with fish and shellfish is for now prohibited by the European Union regulation, but if the legislation changes, it may open new avenues for the insect industry to produce larvae with a bespoke enriched fatty acid profile. The proportions of these six fatty acids within the five most consumed vegetable oils is reported in Table 2. Although coconut oil is only the 8th most consumed vegetable oil in the world (2021-2022: 3.5 million tons/year; Statista, 2023), the fatty acid profile is also featured in Table 2 due to the similarity with black soldier fly oil. The fatty acid profiles of palm, soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower oils are quite different to black soldier fly oil, for example, they contain little to no lauric acid. In contrast, the fatty acid profile of black soldier fly oil is closer to palm kernel and coconut oils because they are rich in lauric acid (around 1/2 of the profile of these two oils). However, black soldier fly oil is still partly different from these two oils, for instance, it is much richer in linoleic acid. To summarize, although black soldier fly oil is rich in lauric acid similarly to palm kernel and coconut oils, it should not be compared to any vegetable oil, and rather should be considered as a new sustainable ingredient for animal nutrition. THE USE OF BLACK SOLDIER FLY OIL IN ANIMAL NUTRITION The fatty acid profile of black soldier fly oil is interesting, from a nutritional point of view, for a wide range of animals. In poultry, the only essential Reference Farming substrate(s) for the larvae Traceable organic by-products from local agroindustries (See details on the right.) Agroindustry by-products Chicken feed, spent grains, beer yeast, beet molasses, bread and cookie remains, potato peelings Rye meal Palm kernel meal Ewald et al., 2020 Romano et al., 2022 Yandi et al., 2022 Bread Sweet potato, spent coffee, bread dough Fruits and vegetables waste Zulkifli et al., 2022 Agroindustry by-products Literature data compiled Entolipid (large-scale production) Oonincx et al., 2015 Matthäus et al., 2019 Alifian et al., 2019 40.5 15.6 14.6 2.1 17.5 No data 51.8 9.5 12.7 1.5 12.0 7.7 16.6 5.4 19.3 5.9 12.5 9.8 27.6-42.9 5.0-7.5 15.2-17.5 1.9-2.9 9.7-10.5 12.4-23.3 28.9-50.7 7.4-9.5 11.6-17.0 1.8-2.8 10.2-18.1 3.6-17.1 47.7 11.5 15.6 2.2 9.7 6.1 36.9 10.0 24.3 3.9 14.6 5.8 16.6-51.8 5.0-15.6 11.6-24.3 1.5-5.9 9.7-18.1 3.6-23.3 28.0 6.9 17.9 2.5 9.3 21.7 Lauric acid (C12:0) Myristic acid (C14:0) Palmitic acid (C16:0) Stearic acid (C18:0) Oleic acid (C18:1 n-9) Linoleic acid (C18:2 n-6) Table 1. Fatty acid profiles of black soldier fly larvae oil (in % of abundance) according to large-scale production data from Veolia Bioconversion Malaysia (VBM) facility and data extracted from literature. Both VBM and literature data are based exclusively on feeding substrates that are compliant with European Union regulation.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTUxNjkxNQ==