Comparative Assessment of Insect Processing Technologies for Sustainable Insect Protein Production

María Cámara-Ruiz, Alberto Sánchez-Venegas, Nuria Blasco-Lavilla, M. Dolores Hernández, Francisca Sánchez-Liarte, David Fernández-Gutiérrez and Andrés J. Lara-Guillén ()
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María Cámara-Ruiz: Technology Centre for Energy and the Environment (CETENMA), P.I. Cabezo Beaza, C/Sofía 6-13, 30353 Cartagena, Spain
Alberto Sánchez-Venegas: Technology Centre for Energy and the Environment (CETENMA), P.I. Cabezo Beaza, C/Sofía 6-13, 30353 Cartagena, Spain
Nuria Blasco-Lavilla: Technology Centre for Energy and the Environment (CETENMA), P.I. Cabezo Beaza, C/Sofía 6-13, 30353 Cartagena, Spain
M. Dolores Hernández: Instituto Murciano de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario y Medioambiental (IMIDA), Estación de Acuicultura Marina, San Pedro del Pinatar, 30740 Murcia, Spain
Francisca Sánchez-Liarte: Technology Centre for Energy and the Environment (CETENMA), P.I. Cabezo Beaza, C/Sofía 6-13, 30353 Cartagena, Spain
David Fernández-Gutiérrez: Technology Centre for Energy and the Environment (CETENMA), P.I. Cabezo Beaza, C/Sofía 6-13, 30353 Cartagena, Spain
Andrés J. Lara-Guillén: Technology Centre for Energy and the Environment (CETENMA), P.I. Cabezo Beaza, C/Sofía 6-13, 30353 Cartagena, Spain

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 18, 1-14

Abstract: Considering the projected increase in demand for protein sources, finding alternative sources with lower environmental impacts has become of great importance. Insect mass production has emerged as a potential solution, particularly in Western countries. Previous studies indicate that insect farming together with insect processing stages are responsible for most of the environmental impacts associated with the final product. This study compares the environmental impacts linked to alternative processing technologies for insect protein production to traditional ones using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) following the Environmental Footprint methodology. The most relevant impact categories were identified as land use, energy use, freshwater ecotoxicity, water use and climate change. Among the processing treatments, FOP (freezing–oven drying–hot pressing) showed the best environmental performance in terms of all selected impact categories except water use, while the BOS (blanching–oven drying–SFE with CO 2 ) group had the highest environmental impacts in all categories. The results from this study indicate that the environmental impacts of insect protein production can be reduced by using alternative processing technologies. These findings underscore the importance of carefully selecting processing technologies in order to align with global sustainability ambitions in the food industry. This study contributes to the development of ecologically responsible methods that can be adopted across protein production industries.

Keywords: Hermetia illucens; insect protein; LCA; environmental impact (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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