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Successful Completion of Innovative Services for Emerging Bio-based Industries Project

05 Jul 2024

The joint project of Nasekomo and Regional Veterinary Station Ruse “Innovative services for emerging bio-based industries: parametrization of key industrial indicators for insect bio-valorization of low-value organic streams” ended successfully in June 2024. The project was supported by the National Innovation Fund through the Executive Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises and lasted 18 months starting in December 2022. The project is unique for Bulgaria and Europe, as it is the first time that scientific data on key indicators in the production cycle of bio-valorization by black soldier fly have been derived and validated both in the laboratory and in a near-production environment. The data will frame the optimal parameters for the startup and cost-effective management of insect bio-valorization factories.

The project was implemented in partnership between Nasekomo EAD and (Regional Veterinary Station Ruse EOOD – a laboratory for testing food, feed, and biological materials with over 87 years of experience in food and feed testing. Both partners recognized the need for reliable, scientifically proven indicators that would enable the definition of the quality of products resulting from the industrial production of insects for the feed industry.

Furthermore, the project enabled both partners to expand their capacities and offer entirely new services to their clients.

RVS Ruse EOOD conducted numerous studies on insect organic fertilizer and initiated the preparation of the necessary documentation to expand its accreditation scope. This will enable this entirely new service – testing insect fertilizer – to be offered for the first time in Bulgaria. In the research part of the project, an innovative method for the determination of amino acids was developed and the physicochemical parameters of various insect products were investigated.

Nasekomo developed a new service module for assessing the technical feasibility and profitability of a bio-valorization factory using insects, which to offers to its clients. The focus is on optimizing input organic raw materials, production process indicators, and the quality of end products. The project data on the nutritional values of end products and physicochemical parameters of insect organic fertilizer provide a valuable contribution to the industry and represent the first successful attempt to derive and validate industrial parameters in the insect industry.

As the industrial insect farming sector addresses the sustainability issues of feed ingredients and the growing demand for protein, this project is a vital step towards offering a sustainable alternative to traditional protein sources like soy and fish meal. By developing innovative protein sources, Europe aims to reduce dependency on soy imports, providing greater security for European farmers and livestock producers.