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Wageningen University: insect oil a source of omega-3

19 Jan 2016

According to Wageningen University, insect oil is a possible new source of the healthy omega-3 fatty acid. Insects make fatty acids by nature and can live on organic waste. The university has examined which insects can best be used for oil.

According to Wageningen University, insect oil is a possible new source of the healthy omega-3 fatty acid. Insects make fatty acids by nature and can live on organic waste. The university has examined which insects can best be used for oil and what their optimal diet should be.

Insects are already used as a source of protein for man and animals, the researchers note, pointing out that, in the protein extraction process, oil is extracted. This insect oil is currently thrown away. That is a shame, says researcher Daylan Tzompa Sosa of Wageningen University.

In her PhD research, Tzompa Sosa looked at milkfats. Out of curiosity, she once did a similar fat analysis with oil that was left over after protein extraction of insects by a lab colleague. “The oil appeared to contain a lot of fatty acids, both saturated and unsaturated.” In addition, she that the oil can be extracted in an environmentally friendly way, giving the highest return and the best quality oil compared to other processes. Tzompa Sosa extracted oil from, for instance, meal worms, beetle larvae, crickets, cockroaches, grasshoppers and soldier flies. “All the oils smell differently, some nicer than others”, the Wageningen scientist said.

The university notes that industry is interested in sustainable fatty acids like omega-3 and lauric acid. The main source for omega-3 is currently fish. It is added to the feed of cats and farm raised salmon, to foodstuffs and put in capsules.

“Cats die when they get a full vegetable diet without these additives,” said Tzompa Sosa. “That is why they normally eat meat. Farm raised salmon get wild caught fish or fishmeal instead.”

Humans also need to take in a certain amount of fatty acids. Lauric acid (also to be found in coconut oil for example) is said to have bactericidal and virus management qualities. Furthermore, the university notes, the use of insect oil in, for example, cosmetics is obvious.

To research breeding, diet and processing of insects for oil, the Wageningen fat researchers are working together with entomologists and bio based experts of Wageningen UR. One of these research programs concerns an analysis of the different fractions in oil and their properties, because these fractions have different liquid and solid phase. Also a risk analysis of use of the oil for man and animals will be done.