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Black soldier fly larvae. Photo: Leah - Gourmet Grub
Professor Louw Hoffman from the Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation.
Professor Louw Hoffman from the Centre for Nutri- tion and Food Sciences at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation said solving the challenge of diminishing global food security re- quired new thinking.
“Now, we are faced with the challenge of producing and consuming food more efficiently, using essentially the same resource base.”
Canberra-based project partner Goterra uses mod- ular shipping containers to generate tonnes of upcycled compost soil amendment.
Drying had so far proved the best storage method to avoid microbial spoilage in both refrigerated and room temperature conditions.
Black soldier flies advance food security
A SUPPLY chain that us- es insects to upcycle food waste into high-grade protein, animal feed and fertiliser is being built in Australia with the help of University of Queensland researchers.
“In the past, when food security became an issue, we could bring more land under cultivation and in- tensify production systems.
Australian waste manage- ment innovators Goter- ra and the University of Queensland.
“It can also help divert grain currently used to feed animals back to humans through the use of balanced livestock feed formulations that include insect pro- teins,” Prof Hoffman said.
the larvae potentially accu- mulating microbial, heavy metal and allergen contam- inants.”
Key to this innovation is the black soldier fly her- metia illucens and the 95 percent of food waste that ends up in landfill.
“We no longer have those options given finite soil, water and fertiliser re- sources.
The larvae of the black soldier fly are already used to upcycle food waste into nitrogen-rich fertiliser.
However, while the black soldier larvae are edible, they are only approved for fish and poultry consump- tion in some jurisdictions and not for pigs or rumi- nants.
The first findings have recently been published and the results are prom- ising, with rinsing and blanching to process the insects proving particu- larly effective at reducing microbial load.
“Solving the challenge of diminishing global food se- curity required new think- ing,” Prof Hoffman said.
The Fight for Food Waste Cooperative Research Centre, the world’s larg- est dedicated food waste research and development programme, is co-funding collaborative work between
This project takes it one step further, bringing the larvae into animal feed markets.
“Using food waste to grow the larvae raises three key safety issues,” Prof Hoffman said.
The QAAFI team was now working its way up the food chain, clearing safety issues as they arose, Prof Hoffman said.
Prof Hoffman is work- ing with industry and food safety regulators to create a sustainable protein supply chain.
“We have an opportunity to create a novel and sus- tainable supply chain of high-value proteins that sits well with a contemporary appetite for responsibly sourced food, especially proteins,” Prof Hoffman said.
Discussion with Food Standards Australia New Zealand will ensure the research team conducts industry-relevant testing to provide the necessary food safety data.
The strategy was first to roll out larvae production as feed for fish and chick- ens.
“These issues relate to
Peanut skins in poultry diets leave no trace of allegens
RESEARCH chemist Ondulla Toomer is looking at alterna- tive uses for peanut skins that would usually be discarded as waste.
bre and minerals and vitamins. Peanut skins also contain bio- active compounds, including an- tioxidants that help neutralise cell-damaging molecules in the
with a view to determining the optimal amount that can be added.
ing concentrations of bioactive compounds in different coloured peanut skins, which range from red, tan and brown to white, black and variegated.
According to a recent press release, Ms Toomer’s studies at the Agricultural Research Ser- vice, Food Science and Market Quality and Handling Research Unit in Raleigh, North Caroline suggest a range of food and livestock feed uses that could potentially open the door to new value-added markets for peanut skins.
body, called free radicals.
In fact, some have antioxidant activity levels equal to those of green tea, grape skins and other
Aware of peanut sensitivities in some consumers, the researchers also checked for the presence of allergenic peanut proteins in egg and meat samples produced from birds fed peanut-contain- ing diets.
Ms Toomer said profiling the nutritional chemistry and prop- erties of peanut skins is a key step towards figuring out how best to use them, with potential benefits to producers and con- sumers.
Instead of landfill waste, Ms Toomer sees untapped nutri- tional potential in the paper-thin skins, which are chock full of protein, carbohydrates, fats, fi-
However, peanut skins contain tannins, which can reduce the digestion of protein from feed.
Scientists are investigating new value-added mar- kets for peanut skins, exploring the benefits of adding peanut skins to the diets of poultry. Photo: Arisa Chattasa
sources.
On the livestock feed front, Ms
However, no traces of peanut allergens were detected.
Toomer and collaborators are exploring the benefits of add- ing peanut skins to the diets of poultry.
Also of interest is determining whether birds fed peanut skins shed fewer salmonella bacte- ria, which can pose a human food safety concern with the consumption of poultry meat or eggs.
More broadly, Ms Toomer’s efforts dovetail with the Agri- cultural Research Service lab’s overarching mission to improve the productivity, processing, end-user quality and nutritional value of not only peanut, but also cucumber, sweet potato, capsicum and cabbage crops.
The researchers have begun evaluating low inclusion levels of 4 percent of peanut skins,
On the functional food front, the researchers are compar-
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Page 10 – National Poultry Newspaper, September 2022
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