Project description
A recipe for edible insect production
Edible insects are regarded as a potential solution to addressing the needs of a growing human population, but there are technical and cultural limitations. Technical constraints can be addressed using existing methods from the biological sciences. Understanding how various conditions impact the quantity, nutritional quality, safety, and sustainability of insect production is crucial. The gut microbiome plays a pivotal role in the viability of animal food production. Recognising this, the EU has invested EUR 1.4 billion to explore these aspects further, particularly in vertebrate systems. The MSCA-funded EvoCricks project will study the connection between microbiomes and insect production for human consumption. It uses wild crickets to determine the optimal rearing conditions for edible cricket production.
Objective
The production of edible insects is often presented as a solution to the current environmental and food security challenge of feeding a growing human population, but faces major technical and cultural limitations. While cultural limitations can be overcome by convincing people about the importance of shifting our diets to a more sustainable one, many technical limitations can be overcome by using existing methods and theory from the biological sciences. In this regard, it is critical to understand how a variety of biotic and abiotic conditions affect the quantity, nutritional quality, safety and sustainability of insect production. It is currently recognised that the gut microbiome plays a fundamental role in driving the viability of animal food production, with the EU recently investing 1.4 billion € into exploring this relationship further in vertebrate systems. However, I argue there is almost certainly also a strong association between microbiomes and the production of insects as a food resource, hence the focus of my application. Using wild crickets of the commonly farmed species Acheta domesticus, this project aims to decipher the relationship between the environment, microbiome composition, and the nutritional quality (essential nutrients) of edible insects as human food. The knowledge gained from wild animals will be contrasted to controlled experimental results to dissect the production conditions that best reflect the findings from the field. This project will provide key insights about the best quality wild populations in Europe and the corresponding optimal laboratory/industry rearing conditions that maximise edible cricket production and quality.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
1165 Kobenhavn
Denmark