Insect-Based Bioconversion: Value from Food Waste

Abstract

Fowles and Nansen’s chapter discusses insect-based bioconversion. When insects are mass produced under controlled conditions, they can break down significant quantities of food waste. Further, as the insects consume this waste, they produce multiple valuable commodities, such as insect biomass (proteins, lipids), pharmaceuticals, biofuels, lubricants, and fertilizer from their excrement. This process is called bioconversion and will be a serious contender among food waste treatment options in the coming decades. Insect bioconversion is gaining traction both as a research topic and as a business opportunity. Fowles and Nansen discuss both the need to increase capacity and to maximize the potential benefits of using insects as bioconverters of food waste. They provide both theoretical and practical solutions for expanding insect-based bioconversion to food waste streams.

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Identifiers

DOI

10.1007/978-3-030-20561-4_12

Journal

Food Waste Management

Year

2019