2023-10-09 16:00:00
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Insects are rich in proteins, lipids, vitamins and minerals. Furthermore, they contain bioactive compounds, such as chitin, antimicrobial peptides and fatty acids with immunostimulant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. With all these qualities, it is normal that in recent years they have become a feasible alternative to meat consumption. The FAO (World Food Organization) itself issued years ago a broad report in which he recommended that if we wanted to end world hunger we should start incorporating them into our diet. However, In addition to ingesting them directly, they could also serve as raw material for the production of foods of animal origin.: for example, I think for farm animals or for fish farms. Ecological and economical alternatives that could save the cost of food production while reducing our ecological footprint.
Despite all these qualities, to date There are only a few species that are mass-bred for food purposes: The most common are the black fly, the house fly and the mealworm, the latter authorized for human consumption when it is in the larval stage.
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More ecological fish farms
If there is a promising sector for the consumption of insects is aquaculture, an activity highly dependent on fishmeal and soybean meal, two very unsustainable products. “Insects are an ideal food in these cases, as they close the circle of the circular economy, since they can use leftover feed from farm animals, a waste product that has no value,” he explains to National Geographic Marta Ros, nutritionist and food technologist at the Oberta University of Catalonia and expert in the use of insects for food.
For this reason, the inclusion of these products in fish feed is currently the subject of study. The results are promising, although the progress is very little significantsince it must be understood that in these investigations the casuistry is very wide (There are species with different physiologies and nutritional requirements, as well as insects with different stages of development).
Photo: Istock
Aquaculture is one of the sectors that could benefit the most from the use of insects for animal feed.
Ua feasible alternative but, at the moment, not very profitable
Broadly speaking, most of the research published to date reaches similar conclusions: The use of insects in fish farms is, at the very least, a beneficial alternative, since it does not have notable effects on the growth rate of the animals nor does it affect the performance of fish farms. However, they are still not profitable enough.
The key, the lack of large-scale production
Why, then, is there such reluctance to use insects in aquaculture? According to the conclusions of the article Beyond the protein concept: health aspects of using edible insects on animals (Beyond the concept of protein: health aspects of the use of insects in animals), the lack of large-scale production units (with the exception of houseflies) translates into unclear regulations and higher prices, which discourages its massive use as an alternative to fish or soymeal. However, according to the same study, a diet high in insects could be conceived as a dietary supplement to improve the health of fish, including a ‘natural oral vaccine’ to boost their immune system, which would benefit final consumption.
Will insects become the raw material for the farms of the future? At the moment, its use is still residual, partly due to high prices. “More studies are still needed,” acknowledges Ros, who, however, states that In the near future, different types of insect flour will be used in all types of applications in the food chain.Not only in fish farms. We are not only what we eat, but what we eat is also what we eat.
Insects, the ecological alternative to food
#sustainable #food #aquaculture