Marine Side Streams in Insect-Based Biorefineries: From Substrate-Insect Matching to Functional Aquafeed Ingredients...

Area of Science:

• Aquaculture
• Biotechnology
• Sustainable Chemistry

Background:

• Marine by-products are abundant, heterogeneous feedstocks rich in valuable compounds.
• Current utilization of marine residues is limited, posing environmental and economic challenges.
• Insect-mediated bioconversion offers a novel approach to valorize these waste streams.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review insect-mediated bioconversion of marine by-products into functional aquafeed ingredients.
• To analyze substrate-insect matching, process parameters, and product characteristics.
• To explore applications and challenges of marine insect biorefineries.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of marine feedstock classes and industrial insects.
• Evaluation of substrate properties (moisture, salinity, lipids, ash) for insect suitability.
• Review of microbiome-assisted strategies for enhanced bioconversion.
• Assessment of safety, regulatory, and techno-economic factors.

Main Results:

• Marine substrates can be tailored into insect meal, oil, chitin, and hydrolysates.
• Insect-derived products show potential for replacing fishmeal and fish oil in aquafeeds.
• Microbiome strategies improve substrate stability, digestibility, and product quality.
• Optimized biorefineries enhance biomass yield, product quality, and safety.

Conclusions:

• Insect biorefineries present a sustainable strategy for marine by-product valorization.
• Careful substrate-insect matching and process control are crucial for success.
• Further research is needed on safety, regulation, and techno-economic feasibility for scale-up.