About one-third of the food produced annually worldwide ends up as waste. A minor part of this waste is used for biofuel and compost production, but most is landfilled, causing environmental damage. Mass production of edible insects for human food and livestock feed seems a sustainable solution to meet demand for animal-based protein, which is expected to increase due to rapid global population growth. The aim of this review was to compile up-to-date information on mass rearing of edible insects for food and feed based on food wastes. The use and the potential role of the fermentation process in edible insect mass production and the potential impact of this rearing process in achieving an environmentally friendly and sustainable food industry was also assessed. Food waste comprises a huge nutrient stock that could be valorized to feed nutritionally flexible edible insects. Artificial diets based on food by-products for black soldier fly, house fly, mealworm, and house cricket mass production have already been tested with promising results. The use of fermentation and fermentation by-products can contribute to this process and future research is proposed towards this direction. Part of the sustainability of the food sector could be based on the valorization of food waste for edible insect mass production. Further research on functional properties of reared edible insects, standardization of edible insects rearing techniques, safety control aspects, and life cycle assessments is needed for an insect-based food industry.

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Yeast β-glucan polysaccharide is a proven immunostimulant molecule for human and animal health. In recent years, interest in β-glucan industrial production has been increasing. The yeast cell wall is modified during the fermentation process for biomass production. The impact of environmental conditions on cell wall remodelling has not been extensively investigated. The aim of this research work was to study the impact of glucose and NaCl stress on β-glucan formation in the yeast cell wall during alcoholic fermentation and the assessment of the optimum fermentation phase at which the highest β-glucan yield is obtained. VIN 13 Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) strain was pre-cultured for 24 h with 0% and 6% NaCl and inoculated in a medium consisting of 200, 300, or 400 g/L glucose. During fermentation, 50 mL of fermented medium were taken periodically for the determination of Optical Density (OD), cell count, cell viability, cell dry weight, β-glucan concentration and β-glucan yield. Next, dry yeast cell biomass was treated with lytic enzyme and sonication. At the early stationary phase, the highest β-glucan concentration and yield was observed for non-NaCl pre-cultured cells grown in a medium containing 200 g/L glucose; these cells, when treated with enzyme and sonication, appeared to be the most resistant. Stationary is the optimum phase for cell harvesting for β-glucan isolation. NaCl and glucose stress impact negatively on β-glucan formation during alcoholic fermentation. The results of this work could comprise a model study for yeast β-glucan production on an industrial scale and offer new perspectives on yeast physiology for the development of antifungal drugs.