Project
FLIES4VALUE want to offer an economic, efficient, competitive and low-impact system to enhance wastes from regional agri-food industries by exploiting the effectiveness of bioconverting insects, soldier fly larvae, for the production of feed for laying hens and other substances with high added value for the food sector and agriculture.
The soldier flies will be bred on a mixture of by-products chosen on the basis of nutrients and pigment content, optimized to maximize growth. Both incoming biomass (by-products) and outgoing biomass (mature larvae) will be characterized and stabilized. An integrated plant for mass production, suppression and functional stabilization of soldier flies will be created which will make the larvae immediately available for animal feed. The feed obtained, in addition to proteins and lipids, will provide ideal natural pigments to obtain eggs with intensely colored yolks, as required by the market, thus reducing the use of synthetic pigments, which are expensive and have a negative impact on the health of the hens. The parameters of hens fed on soldier fly larvae feed and the quality of the eggs will be evaluated. Protein, lipid and chitinous fractions with high added value and extracts with high enzymatic activity, of great interest for the food/feed industry, will be obtained through biorefinery processes of larval biomass. To maximize the exploitation of resources with a view to circular economy, the enhancement of the post-larval organic residue is envisaged as a conditioner for crops and for the potential for biomethanation. The environmental/economic/social impacts of the system will be quantified to assess its regional industrial feasibility.
Who we are
Lead partner
Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia – Centro di Ricerca Interdipartimentale per il miglioramento e la valorizzazione delle risorse biologiche agro-alimentari BIOGEST-SITEIA
News
Previous projects
Bioeco Flies
Valorization of by-products of vegetable supply chains through insects: new solutions for food, agronomic and energy uses
Project to identify economic, efficient, competitive and low-impact systems to enhance these biomasses and prevent their use from being limited in applications with low added value (e.g. soil improvers or biomass for digesters). Some species of insects exist in nature, in particular we remember the Hermetia also called "soldier fly", which have the ability to convert plant biomass into compounds with high nutritional value. These insects, in fact, can convert, in a very efficient way and with minimal impact, a vegetable biomass with low nutritional value into a biomass rich in proteins, fats and chitin, which can be used both as feed and as food.
ValoriBio
Valorization of organic waste by insects to obtain biomaterials for agricultural uses
Project for the valorisation of livestock production waste and other organic waste to produce innovative bioplastics with specific properties, which can be used mainly in agriculture (e.g. mulch sheets and biodegradable pots) which, in addition to performing their primary function, will act as fertilizers slow release releasing nitrogen during decomposition. In order to achieve this result, the first demonstration facility in Emilia Romagna of a soldier flies farm was built. Thanks to large-scale systems of this type, it will be possible in the future to dispose of any type of organic waste from the agro-zootechnical chain and urban waste in a sustainable, efficient and economically advantageous way.
Contacts
Insects for the bioconversion of agri-food by-products in food and high-value added substances
For informations about the project:
PROF.SSA LARA MAISTRELLO PhD
MAIL: lara.maistrello@unimore.it
Professore Associato in Entomologia Generale ed Applicata, con abilitazione a Professore Ordinario
Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita
Centro Interdipartimentale BIOGEST-SITEIA
Università di Modena and Reggio Emilia
Area San Lazzaro, Pad. Besta
Via G. Amendola 2, 42122 Reggio Emilia
Italy
UNITÀ ENTOMOLOGIA APPLICATA - LABORATORIO
Centro Interdipartimentale per il Miglioramento e la Valorizzazione
delle Risorse Biologiche Agro-alimentari
Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Piazzale Europa – Tecnopolo di Reggio Emilia N°1/A
42124 Reggio nell'Emilia (RE)