The future is crawling: Evaluating the potential of insects for food and feed security.

Current estimations showed that the number of people affected by hunger doubled in the last two years, reaching 9.8% of the global population. According to FAO, in order to satisfy the demand for food in the next few years, it will be necessary to double food production. Moreover, the call for a change in dietary patterns has been raised, showing how the food sector is responsible of 1/3 of climate change where meat-based diets or overconsumption of meat play an important role in the negative environmental impact. Consequently, there is a growing concern in how to achieve the goal of increasing food productions without exploiting environmental resources and to explore the production and use of alternative resources, such as insects. Insects are gaining interests both as food and feed not only to reduce the environmental costs in feed production for common livestock, but also to reduce farmers' dependence on traditional protein sources. In this work we aimed to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art upon insect studies, highlighting the most important results obtained from both an industrial and market perspective. The legislative framework concerning edible insects as food and feed is also analyzed, with the final purpose to highlight recent reforms, relevant case-law as well as unsolved regulatory challenges. From a normative perspective, regulatory efforts are still required to fully take advantage of the potentialities of insects-industry. From a consumer point of view, consumers' willingness to pay a premium is going to be a key issue for economic sustainability of the insect farming chain. To meet the food and feed security challenges, insects will have to be considered all-around, including applications in the food, feed, and other sectors. We believe that this review is an important contribution to the field of food science and will be of interest to researchers, food industry professionals, and policymakers in order to prioritize research questions and help communicate scientific knowledge to a broader audience.

Exploring the Potential of Lactic Acid Fermentation for the Recovery of Exhausted Vanilla Beans.

The market value of vanilla is constantly growing, as it is the aroma most appreciated by consumers worldwide. The key component of the aroma of vanilla beans is vanillin, which can be directly extracted from the plant, produced by chemical synthesis, or by bioconversion of natural precursors. Due to the increasing consumers' demand for products labeled as "natural," extraction from vanilla pods results in a more valuable aroma source. Once the extraction is completed, what remains are the exhausted beans that still contain small seeds and other compounds, including varying amounts of vanillin trapped in the cellular structures of the plant. The application of fermentation of exhausted vanilla beans is proposed here as a strategy to recover "natural" vanillin and other valuable aroma compounds as a result of the metabolic conversion by lactic acid bacteria (LAB). The aim of this study was to verify the fermentability of exhausted vanilla beans by-products for their valorization, allowing the recovery of high-value molecules or new applications in food products. Design of Experiment (DoE) was used to screen a library of LAB strains to identify the best condition of fermentation in response to varying cultivation conditions. A comparison between mono and co-culture of LAB was assessed. Moreover, sensory panel tests and the evaluation of the aromatic components by Solid Phase Micro Extraction-Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry analysis were carried out to better understand the modification of the aroma profile after fermentation. Fermentation with LAB changed the volatile profile and sensory characteristics of the exhausted vanilla beans and represents a promising method for the valorization of these by-products.

Influence of Processing Parameters and Natural Antimicrobial on Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris and Clostridium pasteurianum Using Response Surface Methodology.

The food industry must ensure the stability of the products, and this is often achieved by exposing foods to heat treatments that are able to ensure the absence of pathogenic or spoilage microorganisms. These treatments are different in terms of temperature and duration and could lead to a loss in nutritional and sensory value. Moreover, some types of microorganisms manage to survive these treatments thanks to the sporification process. The addition of antimicrobials can become necessary, but at present, consumers are more inclined toward natural products, avoiding synthetic and chemical additives. Antimicrobials from plants could be a valuable option and, in this context, a patent concerning an antimicrobial extract from fermented plant substrate was recently tested against foodborne pathogens revealing high antimicrobial activity. The objective of this study was the creation of a model for the evaluation and subsequent prediction of the combined effect of different process and product variables, including antimicrobial addition, on the inhibition and reduction of spore germination of target microorganisms, Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris and Clostridium pasteurianum, responsible for spoilage of tomato-based products.

Fermentation of Agri-Food Waste: A Promising Route for the Production of Aroma Compounds.

Food waste and byproducts are generated along the entire food processing and storage chain. The large amount of waste deriving from the whole process represents not only a great economic loss but also an important ethical and environmental issue in terms of failure to recycle potentially reusable materials. New, clear strategies are needed to limit the amount of waste produced and, at the same time, promote its enhancement for further conversion and application to different industrial fields. This review gives an overview of the biological approaches used so far to exploit agri-food wastes and byproducts. The application of solid-state fermentation by different microorganisms (fungi, yeasts, bacteria) to produce several value-added products was analyzed, focusing on the exploitation of lactic acid bacteria as workhorses for the production of flavoring compounds.

Effect of fermentation with single and co-culture of lactic acid bacteria on okara: evaluation of bioactive compounds and volatile profiles.

Okara is the main soybean by-product resulting from the processing of soy milk and tofu. Despite being a product with a lot of potential and rich in many bioactive compounds such as polyphenols, it presents an unpleasant, rancid aroma. For this reason its use in the food industry is limited. In this study, we have reported the integral use of okara in a solid state fermentation process, conducted with wild strains of lactic acid bacteria, to evaluate the effect of bacterial metabolism on the volatile and polyphenolic profiles. Strains belonging to Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus and Pediococcus acidilactici species were used in monoculture and, for the first time, in co-culture. The results showed an improvement in the aromatic fraction showing a decrease in hexanal, responsible for off-flavour, and an increase in ketones with fruity and buttery notes in fermented okara. Polyphenols were also affected, and, in particular, a bioconversion of glucoside isoflavones to the aglycone forms was highlighted in all fermented substrates. In addition, the appearance of both phenyllactic and p-hydroxyphenyllactic acids as well as the increase in indole-3-lactic acid was observed for the first time upon okara fermentation. Overall, the co-culture appears to be the most promising for biovalorization of okara, thereby opening the possibility of its use in the development of functional ingredients.

Antimicrobial Biomasses from Lactic Acid Fermentation of Black Soldier Fly Prepupae and Related By-Products.

Worldwide, thousands of insect species are consumed as food or are used as feed ingredients. Hermetia illucens, 'black soldier fly', is one of them, and a large amount of puparia and dead adults flies are accumulated during rearing. These materials represent important wastes but no studies are still present in the literature regarding their functional properties and potential reuse. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are a heterogeneous group of bacteria contributing to various industrial applications, ranging from food fermentation, chemicals production to pharmaceuticals manufacturing. A LAB feature of industrial interest is their ability to produce antimicrobial metabolites. Considering the scientific and commercial interest in discovering novel antimicrobials, this work will be direct towards fermentation of insect-derived biomasses: puparia and adults insect at the end of life cycle. To the best of our knowledge, the in vitro antimicrobial activity of fermented insects is tested for the first time. This study aimed also to evaluate differences in the composition between fermented and unfermented insects, and to study whether the fermentation and the type of LAB used played a crucial role in modifying the composition of the substrate. Results firstly highlighted fermentability of this species of insects, showed that fermented black soldier flies puparium possess a high antimicrobial activity against tested pathogens. Moreover, result of chemical composition showed that fermented biomass had a higher percentage of fat and a more complex fatty acids profile.

Development of Lactic Acid-Fermented Tomato Products.

BACKGROUND: lactic acid fermentation was recently proposed to produce fruit and vegetable beverages with high nutritional value. In this study, a wide screening of strains and fermentation parameters was carried out to develop fermented tomato-based drinks containing viable cells and potentially bioactive metabolites. METHODS: six different products (three extracts, two tomato juices and one tomato puree) were used as substrate for fermentation. After preliminary testing, eight fermentation conditions for each tested product were selected. The final products were stabilized with pasteurization or refrigeration and further characterized in terms of (i) antioxidant activity and (ii) total polyphenols. RESULTS: selected strains were able to grow in almost all tomato-based products except for one extract. Antioxidant activity and total phenolic content depend on products and fermentation conditions used and, except for tomato puree, an overall increase was observed. The best nutritional profile was reached in fermented samples stored at refrigerated temperature without thermal stabilization. CONCLUSION: an integrated data vision allowed to choose, for each substrate, the best combination of strains to produce novel fermented tomato-based products with different application perspectives.

Lipid profile and growth of black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens, Stratiomyidae) reared on by-products from different food chains.

BACKGROUND: The total amount of bio-waste produced annually in the EU by the food and beverage chains is estimated at 37 billion kg. The use of insects for the valorization of by-products from these value chains may represent a sustainable solution. This study aimed to investigate the by-products obtained from different food chains and used for the rearing of black soldier fly (BSF) prepupae, and to evaluate the content and profile of the lipid extracted from the prepupae and outline its possible applications. The substrates used in this experiment were: (i) industrial by-products (brewery spent grains, cows' milk whey, grape stalks, and tomato peels and seeds) and (ii) by-products from retailers (bread dough, fish scraps, and spent coffee ground). Fat extracted from prepupae using an adjusted Folch method was used for total lipid content and fatty acid profile. RESULTS: The best larval performances were obtained from beer (0.22 gweight per prepupa), tomato (0.19 gweight per prepupa), and cheese (0.14 gweight per prepupa) food-chain by-products. The extremely different compositions of the substrates were reflected in the differentiated lipid profile of the BSF prepupae and in the range of ratios between unsaturated and saturated fatty acids, which varied from 0.37 for cows' milk whey to 1.34 for tomato peels and seeds. CONCLUSION: The lipids, proteins, and chitin extracted from prepupae are high-value bio-based products that could be used in the feed / food industry or for the development of innovative biomaterials, such as biodiesel. These results suggest that food-chain by-products are the best candidates for insect-bioconversion purposes. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.