Paper accepted: Dietary protein levels in isoenergetic diets affect the performance, nutrient utilization and retention of nitrogen and amino acids of Hermetia illucens larvae (Diptera: Stratiomyidae)

Today, a manuscript has been accepted for publication in the journal Insects to which we contributed our expertise in chitin and chitosan biology and chemistry, in particular our post-doc Dr. Stefan Cord-Landwehr’s analytical expertise. The manuscript will be part of the doctoral thesis of Laura Schneider in the Institute for Animal Nutrition and Health of Prof. Dr. Georg Dusel at the University of Applied Sciences in Bingen. In this paper, Laura describes her systematic studies on the influence of protein content in the diet on the growth and composition of black soldier fly larvae. These larvae are known to grow on all sorts of organic waste streams, converting the substrate into high-value protein and fat that can be used as a feed additive in agriculture or in pet food, replacing environmentally more challenging protein sources such as soybeans. We have, ourselves, an interest in black soldier flies and their larvae because like all insects, they contain chitin in their exoskeletons which might be used as an alternative chitin source for the production of chitosans. We have developed a method for the extraction of chitin from different developmental stages of black soldier flies and for its conversion into agriculturally useful chitosan. Laura’s study now shows how the protein content of the substrate influences growth and, among others, chitin content in the larvae. This is a subject that is surprisingly little studied given the enormous potential of insect farms to contribute to animal feed and, in the long run, also human food production.