Sustainability of insect use for feed and food: Life Cycle Assessment perspective

Smetana, Sergiy; Palanisamy, Megala; Mathys, Alexander; Heinz, Volker

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.07.148

Cited by 329 publications

(267 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…They concluded that insect-based and soy meal-based products were associated with the lowest environmental impact. As was also concluded by Smetana et al (2016), insect-based food can be an environmentally friendlier alternative to conventional high protein products.…”

Section: Life Cycle Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…The method of choice for such assessments is the life cycle assessment (LCA), which has a supply chain approach that quantifies environmental impact of a product through the entire chain. To date, LCAs have only been published for mealworms, house crickets, black soldier flies, and houseflies (Oonincx and de Boer 2012; Miglietta et al 2015;Roffeis et al 2015;Van Zanten et al 2015;Smetana et al 2016, Halloran et al 2017.…”

Section: Life Cycle Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The environmental sustainability of insects as food and feed. A review

Huis

Oonincx

2017

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

661

381

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With a growing world population, increasingly demanding consumers, and a limited amount of agricultural land, there is an urgent need to find alternatives to conventional meat products. Livestock production is, moreover, a leading cause of anthropogenic-induced climate change. To mediate this, more sustainable diets are needed, with reduced meat consumption or the use of alternative protein sources. Insects are promoted as human food and animal feed worldwide. In tropical countries, edible insects are harvested from nature, but overexploitation, habitat changes, and environmental contamination threaten this food resource. Therefore, sustainable harvesting practices need to be developed and implemented. We provide examples of (1) aquatic insects whose populations are threatened by pollution, (2) caterpillar species in Africa that are disappearing due to overexploitation and habitat change, (3) edible insects species that are considered pests in agro-ecosystems, and (4) edible insect species that can be conserved and enhanced in forest management systems. Insect farming can be conducted either on small-scale farms or in large-scale industrialized rearing facilities. We review the environmental sustainability of insect farming compared to livestock production. The major environmental advantages of insect farming compared to livestock production are as follows: (1) less land and water is required; (2) greenhouse gas emissions are lower; (3) insects have high feed conversion efficiencies; (4) insects can transform low-value organic by-products into highquality food or feed; and (5) certain insect species can be used as animal feed or aqua feed. For instance, they can replace fish meal, which is becoming increasingly scarce and expensive.However, edible insect species intended for production should be screened for risks to humans, animals, plants, and biodiversity.

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Section: Life Cycle Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Life Cycle Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The environmental sustainability of insects as food and feed. A review

Huis

Oonincx

2017

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

661

381

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Despite the production of insects for food and feed in countries such as Thailand, South Africa, China, Canada, and the USA, all of the six published LCA studies focus on case studies in Europe (Table 1). Oonincx et al (2012) collected data from a commercial mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) producer in the Netherlands, and Smetana et al (2016) collected data from an industrial-scale black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) producer in Germany (although foreground data was also collected from production trials). Four studies used data from experimental trials or studies (Roffeis et al 2015;van Zanten et al 2015;Salomone et al 2016;Smetana et al 2016).…”

Section: Goal and Scopementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Oonincx et al (2012) collected data from a commercial mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) producer in the Netherlands, and Smetana et al (2016) collected data from an industrial-scale black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) producer in Germany (although foreground data was also collected from production trials). Four studies used data from experimental trials or studies (Roffeis et al 2015;van Zanten et al 2015;Salomone et al 2016;Smetana et al 2016). Smetana et al (2015) used data from Oonincx and de Boer (2012) in their comparative study of meat alternatives and chicken.…”

Section: Goal and Scopementioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle assessment of edible insects for food protein: a review

Halloran¹,

Roos²,

Eilenberg³

et al. 2016

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

189

140

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Compared to their vertebrate counterparts in traditional husbandry, insects are extremely efficient at converting organic matter into animal protein and dietary energy. For this reason, insects for food and feed show great potential as an environmentally friendly choice in future food systems. However, to obtain a true assessment of this, more information is needed about the production systems. Currently, only six studies applying the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to insect production systems have been published. The studies are heterogenous and thus difficult to compare. The aim of this paper was to establish a versatile reference framework that would allow for the selection of standardized settings for LCA applications in insect production systems, taking both the peculiarity of each system and the latest developments in food LCA into account. It is recommended that future LCAs of insect production systems take the following into account: (1) clear definition of the insect species and life stages included in the LCA, (2) use of at least two of the following types of functional units: nutritional, mass, or economic-based, (3) collection of empirical data in situ (e.g., on farms/production sites), (4) comparative analysis where production systems produce products that are realistic alternatives to the insect species under investigation, (5) inclusion of additional or previously unconsidered unit processes, such as processing and storage and waste management, and (6) use of a wide range of impact categories, especially climate change, resource consumption, nutrient enrichment potential, acidification potential, and impacts on land and water consumption in order to allow for comparison between studies.

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“…Driven by the predicted growth of the global population to about 9 billion people in 2050 and the increasing future demand for high-quality protein for human alimentation and livestock breeding, insects are extensively discussed as a promising alternative to common protein sources such as soy, meat and fishmeal [1][2][3]. In addition, insects may have the potential to be used for the valorization of food by-products and waste [4,5]. Compositional data of edible insects and products thereof have indicated auspicious crude protein and fat contents of up to 77% on dry base highly dependent on the regarded order, species, metamorphic stage, diet, and habitat [6][7][8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of pre-treatment and drying method on physico-chemical properties and dry fractionation behaviour of mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor L.)

Purschke

Brüggen

Scheibelberger

et al. 2017

Eur Food Res Technol

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protein (52.5-58.2%db) and fat (21.4-26.6%db) content. Highest protein recovery of max 72% was determined in the particle size fraction 500-1000 µm. Concluding, these results provide insights into physico-chemical characteristics of mealworms affected by pre-treatment and drying. The potential of dry fractionation techniques for protein enrichment and delivery of a variety of differently composed mealworm fractions was demonstrated and may provide an interesting potential to optimize water and energy consumption during insect fractionation.

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Sustainability of insect use for feed and food: Life Cycle Assessment perspective

Cited by 329 publications

References 37 publications

The environmental sustainability of insects as food and feed. A review

The environmental sustainability of insects as food and feed. A review

Life cycle assessment of edible insects for food protein: a review

Effect of pre-treatment and drying method on physico-chemical properties and dry fractionation behaviour of mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor L.)

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