Insect chitosan

In collaboration with Dr. Sabine Gruber and her ChisMeT group at FH Campus Vienna and LIVINfarms Vienna.

Project details

Funding agency: Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)
Period: Mar. 2022 - Jun. 2024
Budget: 344,903 €
Function: PI

Description

In recent years, insects like the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) have become valuable for converting biomass into proteins, lipids, and chitin for the feed and food industry. This process uses organic residues, from agro-industrial by-products to animal manure, effectively closing the loop in food and feed production. The rearing residues also serve as efficient organic fertilizers. Supported by the EU commission and contributing to the Green Deal, this technology shows promise in saving organic resources and reducing reliance on unsustainable, imported feeds.
Our project aims to integrate the production of chitosan, a valuable biopolymer, into this waste valorization process. Chitosan has potential applications in agriculture, wastewater treatment, sanitation, and pharmaceutics. We will work with LIVINfarms AgriFood GmbH to enhance chitosan production from insect-based resources. We will analyze amino acids and N-acetylglucosamine content in larvae and process the residual biomass to recover high-quality protein and chitin. The dried biomass will be delivered to the ChisMeT Group at FH Campus Wien for chitin and chitosan extraction using enzymatic and chemical methods. We will leverage knowledge from previous projects and identify new enzymes to optimize the bioconversion process. Dr. Thomas Klammsteiner at the University of Innsbruck will perform RNA-Seq transcriptome analysis to find novel target enzymes. The quality of the products will be assessed using bioassays to determine biocidal efficacy.

This proof-of-concept study aims to expand the product portfolio of LIVINfarms AgriFood GmbH and enhance the sustainability of chitosan production for various industrial applications.