WP5: Vegetative tissue and seed meal valorisation by insects
The strategy in this WP is to valorise the residues of Crambe and Camelina crops, which contain glucosinolates which are anti-nutritional compounds, for mammals, through an insect biorefinery. The use of insects to convert crop residues increased oil & fat production, but also to turnd a non-edible crop into high value proteins and key fatty acids.
The WP also encompasses the extraction of glucosinolates from the seed meal, in order to generate a natural biopesticide and a detoxified seed meal of higher value.
Specific objectives are:
- Identification of the composition & valuable components in side-streams of Crambe & Camelina oil seed production, i.e. vegetative tissues and seed residues,
- In-solid supercritical fluid extraction of glucosinolates from Crambe & Camelina seed meals to improve valorisation (link with biopesticide / application tests in WP6),
- Identification of insect species feeding on vegetative tissues and siliques of Crambe and Camelina crops in three sites in Europe,
- Selecting insect species suitable to convert side-streams of oil seed production to high-quality protein and oil,
- Develop a prototype for automated mass rearing of insects on side-streams and implement Insect biorefinery: design of a dedicated and efficient extraction, fractionation and characterization of lipids, proteins and other biomolecules with added value out of insect material grown on the side streams.
Partners involved in this WP:
Contact: Prof. Joop van Loon, joop.vanloon@wur.nl, +31317482791