Closing the circular food economy: Advanced technologies to optimise black soldier fly (BSF) larvae nutritional composition for inclusion in aquafeed
Role
Chief Investigator
Description
Black soldier fly (BSF) biomass is a highly valuable source of nutrients for terrestrial and aquatic animals and has shown to include health promoting compounds that enhances animal production. However, the quality and composition of BSF biomass depends on numerous factors including the BSF stocks, rearing conditions including waste stream diets, post-harvest processing methods and storage conditions. To-date, there is currently little information available on the optimum post-harvest processing technologies and real-time on farm monitoring systems to maximise black soldier fly protein profiles for inclusion in aquafeeds. The objective of this study is to generate on-farm data to improve the nutritional profile of BSF larvae for their application as a substitute component in aquafeed. To achieve this aim, three main studies will be conducted, the first one will focus on generating optimum BSF larvae nutritional data through post-harvest technologies to enhancing BSF larvae composition for aquafeed, the second will focus on the development of a rapid digital diagnostic NIR tool for the real-time evaluation of organic waste streams and BSF larvae composition, and the final study will generate critical data on the effects of feeding BSF larvae on growth performance, gut health and product quality of black tiger marine shrimp.
Date
10 Oct 2024 - 30 Jun 2026
Project Type
GRANT
Keywords
Black Soldier Fly;Circular Economy;Insect Farming;Aquafeed;Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy
Funding Body
Food Agility CRC Limited
Amount
450000
Project Team
Kyall Zenger;Leo Nankervis;Ludwig Lopata;Bronson Philippa