Abstract
Sustainable production broadly covers three main pillars: the environmental, economic and social pillars. Much emphasis has been put on the environmental sustainability of insect production, highlighting the great potential of this new type of production as compared to conventional livestock production regarding its reduced impact on the environment and the climate. This chapter will describe some of the efforts that have been conducted and are on-going in recent R&D collaborations on making mealworm production more economically sustainable; focusing on the utilization of low-cost by-products in composite diets designed for mealworms. Other areas of importance for cost-effective production such as automation will also be presented briefly.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Davis GRF, Sosulski WF (1974) Nutritional quality of oilseed protein isolates as determined with larvae of yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor. J Nutr 104:1172–1177
Davis GRF (1975) Essential dietary amino acids for growth of larvae of the yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor L. J Nutr 105:1071–1075
Eilenberg J, Vlak JM, Nielsen-LeRoux C, Cappellozza S, Jensen AB (2015) Diseases in insects produced for food and feed. J Insect Food Feed 1:87–102
Gjerris M, Gamborg C, Röcklinsberg H (2016) Ethical aspects of insect production for food and feed. J Insect Food Feed 2:101–110
Heckmann LH, Ruf A, Nienstedt KM, Krogh PH (2007) Reproductive performance of the generalist predator Hypoaspis aculeifer (Acari: Gamasida) when foraging on different invertebrate prey. Appl Soil Ecol 36:130–135
INBIOM (2015–2016) Bio-resources for insect production of protein feed. R&D project funded by the Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education under INBIOM (Innovation Network for Biomass). http://www.inbiom.dk/en/projects/inbiom-projects/mealworms-for-poultry
inVALUABLE (2017–2019) Insect Value Chain in a Circular Bioeconomy. R&D project funded by Innovation Fund Denmark. http://www.inVALUABLE.dk
Mayntz D, Raubenheimer D, Salomon M, Toft S, Simpson SJ (2005) Nutrient-specific foraging in invertebrate predators. Science 307:111–113
Oonincx DGAB, de Boer IJM (2012) Environmental impact of the production of mealworms as a protein source for humans – a life cycle assessment. PLoS One 7:e51145
Ramos-Elorduy J, González EA, Hernández AR, Pino JM (2002) Use of Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) to recycle organic wastes and as feed for broiler chickens. J Econ Entomol 95:214–220
Rho MS, Lee KP (2014) Geometric analysis of nutrient balancing in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). J Insect Physiol 71:37–45
Rho MS, Lee KP (2016) Balanced intake of protein and carbohydrate maximizes lifetime reproductive success in the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). J Insect Physiol 91-92:93–99
SUSMEAL (2015–2018) Sustainable Mealworm Production for Feed and Food. R&D project funded under Eurostars by Innovation Fund Denmark, Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the European Commission. https://www.dti.dk/projects/project-sustainable-mealworm-production-for-feed-and-food/38305?cms.query=SUSMEAL
van Broekhoven S, Oonincx DGAB, van Huis A, van Loon JJA (2015) Growth performance and feed conversion efficiency of three edible mealworm species (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) on diets composed of organic by-products. J Insect Physiol 73:1–10
van Huis A (2013) Potential of insects as food and feed in assuring food security. Annu Rev Entomol 58:563–583
van Huis A, van Itterbeeck J, Klunder H, Mertens E, Halloran A, Muir G, Vantomme P (2013) Edible insects. Future prospects for food and feed security. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Report no. 171. http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3253e/i3253e.pdf
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support for the SUSMEAL project from the Eurostars program with co-funding from Innovation Fund Denmark (IFD), Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the EU Commission; and for the INBIOM project from the Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education under the Innovation Network for Biomass (INBIOM). Finally, we thank the reviewers for their valuable comments on the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Heckmann, LH., Andersen, J.L., Gianotten, N., Calis, M., Fischer, C.H., Calis, H. (2018). Sustainable Mealworm Production for Feed and Food. In: Halloran, A., Flore, R., Vantomme, P., Roos, N. (eds) Edible Insects in Sustainable Food Systems . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74011-9_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74011-9_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-74010-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-74011-9
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)