OBJECTIVE 2
Research in insect larvae processing
One of the key aspects of the PRO-SUSTAIN project includes the optimization of larvae processing procedures. The applicability of such procedures is still undeveloped and there are still many challenges in optimizing drying, milling and lipid extraction procedures regarding larvae from different insect species. The research would be carried out at both laboratory-scale and mass farming (large-scale) stages of insect rearing.
To obtain the appropriate insect meal that can be included in complete feed for animal diets, it is of critical importance for insects to be:
properly milled (for complete feed homogenicity) and
properly dried (impacting nutritional quality, safety, spoilage and technological properties of insect meal).
Another aspect is the high lipid content in insect larvae, which impacts their technological properties and may impair shelf-life, and needs to be reduced in order to use the larvae in complete feed formulations, because making pellets is the final stage of complete feed production. Moreover, the technological procedures of including dried insect larvae in animal diets would be optimized in order to achieve the best possible quality of feed regarding the physical properties of the complete feed mixture (homogenicity and particle size).