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Vivid-colored phycobiliproteins (PBPs) have emerging potential as food colors and alternative proteins in the food industry. However, enhancing their application potential requires increasing stability, cost-effective purification processes, and consumer acceptance. This narrative review aimed to highlight information regarding the critical aspects of PBP research that is needed to improve their food industry potential, such as stability, food fortification, development of new PBP-based food products, and cost-effective production. The main results of the literature review show that polysaccharide and protein-based encapsulations significantly improve PBPs’ stability. Additionally, while many studies have investigated the ability of PBPs to enhance the techno-functional properties, like viscosity, emulsifying and stabilizing activity, texture, rheology, etc., of widely used food products, highly concentrated PBP food products are still rare. Therefore, much effort should be invested in improving the stability, yield, and sensory characteristics of the PBP-fortified food due to the resulting unpleasant sensory characteristics. Considering that most studies focus on the C-phycocyanin from Spirulina, future studies should concentrate on less explored PBPs from red macroalgae due to their much higher production potential, a critical factor for positioning PBPs as alternative proteins.

The current consumption trends, combined with the expected demographic growth in the coming years, call for a protein transition, i.e., the partial substitution of animal protein-rich foods with foods rich in proteins produced in a more sustainable way. Here, we have discussed some of the most common and promising protein sources alternative to animal proteins, namely: legumes, insects, and microorganisms (including microalgae and fungi). The primary objective was to assess their nutritional quality through the collection of digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS) values available in the scientific literature. Protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) values have been used where DIAAS values were not available. The ecological impact of each protein source, its nutritional quality and the potential applications in traditional foods or novel food concepts like meat analogues are also discussed. The data collected show that DIAAS values for animal proteins are higher than all the other protein sources. Soybean proteins, mycoproteins and proteins of some insects present relatively high DIAAS (or PDCAAS) values and must be considered proteins of good quality. This review also highlights the lack of DIAAS values for many potentially promising protein sources and the variability induced by the way the proteins are processed.

This work explores the production of hybrid protein-polysaccharide extracts from the green seaweed Ulva spp. with potential for food-related applications by means of a pH-shifting method combined by a pre-treatment step. The optimum solubilization (pH = 12) and precipitation (pH = 3) conditions were first determined to maximize protein extraction; however, the extraction yield (21%) was still quite low. The application of a short (5 min) ultrasound pre-treatment prior to the solubilization step was seen to effectively disrupt the cell walls and facilitate protein release, hence increased up to 2-fold the protein extraction yields, and achieving a maximum of 47%. Interestingly, preservation of the seaweed biomass by freeze-drying caused a collapse in the cell wall structure, making protein extraction more difficult and giving rise to lower extraction yields (3-fold lower as compared to the frozen seaweed). The obtained extracts were composed mostly of proteins (21–40%) and carbohydrates (29–51%). The most abundant amino acids (AA) were alanine, glycine, aspartic acid and glutamic acid and the essential AA content accounted for 37–41%, superior to other proteins of non-animal origin. On the other hand, ulvans were the major polysaccharides found in the extracts, which may confer them interesting rheological and bioactive properties. As an important point for their application in the food industry, the low levels of metals and inorganic compounds in the extracts suggested low risk for human consumption. These results evidence the potential of Ulva spp. as a source of proteins with high interest for the production of novel food products based on alternative proteins.

This study aimed to assess the nutritional quality and digestibility of proteins in two red seaweed species, Gelidium corneum and Gracilaropsis longissima, through the application of in vitro gastrointestinal digestions, and evaluate the impact of two consecutive processing steps, extrusion and compression moulding, to produce food snacks. The protein content in both seaweeds was approximately 16 %, being primarily located within the cell walls. Both species exhibited similar amino acid profiles, with aspartic and glutamic acid being most abundant. However, processing impacted their amino acid profiles, leading to a significant decrease in labile amino acids like lysine. Nevertheless, essential amino acids constituted 35-36 % of the total in the native seaweeds and their processed products. Although the protein digestibility in both seaweed species was relatively low (<60 %), processing, particularly extrusion, enhanced it by approximately 10 %. Interestingly, the effect of the different processing steps on the digestibility varied between the two species. This difference was mainly attributed to compositional and structural differences. G. corneum exhibited increased digestibility with each processing step, while G. longissima reached maximum digestibility after extrusion. Notably, changes in the amino acid profiles of the processed products affected adversely the protein nutritional quality, with lysine becoming the limiting amino acid. These findings provide the basis for developing strategies to enhance protein quality in these seaweed species, thereby facilitating high-quality food production with potential applications in the food industry.

In Western societies, reducing red meat consumption gained prominence due to health, environmental, and animal welfare considerations. We estimated the public health impact of substituting beef with house cricket (Acheta domesticus) in European diets (Denmark, France, and Greece) using the risk-benefit assessment (RBA) methodology, building upon the EFSA-funded NovRBA project. The overall health impact of substituting beef patties with insect powder-containing patties was found to be impacted by the amount of cricket powder incorporated in the patties. While using high amounts of cricket powder in meat substitutes may be safe, it does not inherently offer a healthier dietary option compared to beef. Adjustment of cricket powder levels is needed to yield a positive overall health impact. The main driver of the outcome is sodium, naturally present in substantial amounts in crickets. Moreover, the way that cricket powder is hydrated before being used for the production of patties (ratio of powder to water), influences the results. Our study highlighted that any consideration for dietary substitution should be multidimensional, considering nutritional, microbiological and toxicological aspects, and that the design of new food products in the framework of dietary shifts should consider both health risks and benefits associated with the food.

Insect-based foods may contribute to the consumption of more sustainable diets. Acceptance strategies for children are necessary to integrate insect-based foods into normal diets and lead to significant protein replacement. This study aimed to: (1) pilot the evaluation of insect-based foods in an online classroom; and (2) investigate the effects of exposing school children to educational and tasting interventions on the perception of edible insects and insect-based foods using in-person classrooms. The online classroom (n=220) used a simple intervention design where the perception of insect-based flatbreads and dhal-inspired dish were measured after exposure to the information session and tasting. The in-person classroom intervention (n=65) was composed of a lesson, food tasting, and a question-and-answer session with designated questionnaires. The online classroom response rate decreased as the number of tasks increased during the tasting or cooking sessions. Children participating in the in-person classroom session reported positive post-intervention correlations between agreeing society needing sustainable foods and willingness to consume insects. Awareness initiatives for insect-based foods for regular consumption should advance as opinions and knowledge about sustainability change.

Insect pests cause substantial losses to food and fiber crops worldwide. Additionally, they vector human and domestic animal diseases. The dependence on pesticides as a sole method of control has resulted in the development of insect resistance and negative effects on human health, natural enemies, and the environment. The concept of integrated pest management (IPM) originated almost 60 years ago in response to these negative impacts of pesticides. Currently, IPM is a robust paradigm of pest control around the globe. This chapter reviews the history of IPM, its main principles, decision-making rules, the components, and main tactical methods used. Innovative tactical methods such as sterile insect technique (SIT), incompatible insect technique (IIT), and push-pull strategy are discussed. Moreover, challenges of implementation and future prospects of IPM are highlighted. Contributed papers by experts in the field detail how to put integrated pest management to work. Presents the philosophy and practice, ecological and economic background as well as strategies and techniques including not only the use of chemical pesticides but also biological, genetic and cultural methods to manage the harm done by insect pests. Covers such key crops as cotton, corn, apples and forage. This edition reports important advances of the last decade including an increased environmental and ecological awareness and a trend toward lower chemical pesticide use. An integrated survey of the biological background, principles, and methods of insect pest management, presenting representative papers by leaders in the field. Stresses insect problems in agriculture, providing examples of developing programs and techniques in the modeling, analysis, and use of insect pest management. Topics covered include plant resistance, parasitoids, and the function of diseases and insecticides in pest management. Provides extensive references and numerous practical examples of pest management usage.

There is a growing awareness that fostering the transition toward plant-based diets with reduced meat consumption levels is essential to alleviating the detrimental impacts of the food system on the planet and to improving human health and animal welfare. The reduction in average meat intake may be reached via many possible ways, one possibility being the increased consumption of plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs). For this reason, in recent years, hundreds of products have been launched on the market with sensory attributes (i.e., taste, texture, appearance, and smell) similar to their animal counterparts; however, these products have often a long list of ingredients and their nutritional values are very different from animal meat. The present review aims to highlight the main opportunities and challenges related to the production and consumption of PBMAs through an interdisciplinary approach. Aspects related to the production technology, nutritional profiles, potential impacts on health and the environment, and the current market and consumer acceptance of PBMAs are discussed. Focusing on the growing literature on this topic, this review will also highlight research gaps related to PBMAs that should be considered in the future, possibly through the collaboration of different stakeholders that can support the transition toward sustainable plant-based diets.

The United Nations has encouraged governments to promote sustainable healthy diets to address undernutrition, obesity, and climate change. This perspective paper examines policy insights from selected high-income countries in Asia, Europe, and North America to understand how traditional and novel alternative proteins (AP) may support sustainable healthy diets in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) where populations experience malnutrition in all forms. AP products must be affordable, locally sustainable, and culturally acceptable to improve diet quality and health. Food-based dietary guidelines are a policy tool to guide AP product formulation, manufacturing, processing, labeling, and marketing to ensure that these products complement traditional plant- and animal-source proteins in sustainable healthy diets. This paper suggests that a new food categorization taxonomy is needed to guide AP product recommendations. Decision-makers must harmonize multisectoral policies to ensure LMIC populations have access to sustainable healthy diets to achieve a protein transition and food systems transformation by 2050.

This paper asks what the regulatory assessment of the novel processed meat analogue products reveals about the nature of food regulation in Australia. We analyse Food Standards Australia and New Zealand’s (FSANZ) assessment of the recent application by Californian technology company Impossible Foods Inc to sell its proprietary burger products which contain a genetically modified protein that is said to make their burger ‘bleed’. We show that FSANZ’s assessment process has little capacity to engage with broader and longer term, social, ecological and public health implications of novel foods and changing food markets. FSANZ’s regulatory pre-approval process focuses almost exclusively on the safety of individual ingredients rather than the impact of novel foods on the food supply as whole and leaves broader issues to the market and consumer choice with limited support from laws addressing misleading labelling and marketing of foods. Extending the capacity of Australia’s regulatory regime for food to deal with more than the safety of individual ingredients will become more urgent as other novel foods, such as cell-based meats, enter the marketplace.

This systematic review aimed to examine the health outcomes and environmental impact of edible insect consumption. Following PRISMA-P guidelines, PubMed, Medline ProQuest, and Cochrane Library databases were searched until February 2021. Twenty-five articles met inclusion criteria: twelve animal and six human studies (randomized, non-randomized, and crossover control trials), and seven studies on sustainability outcomes. In animal studies, a supplement (in powdered form) of 0.5 g/kg of glycosaminoglycans significantly reduced abdominal and epididymal fat weight (5–40% and 5–24%, respectively), blood glucose (10–22%), and total cholesterol levels (9–10%), and a supplement of 5 mg/kg chitin/chitosan reduced body weight (1–4%) and abdominal fat accumulation (4%) versus control diets. In other animal studies, doses up to 7–15% of edible insect inclusion level significantly improved the live weight (9–33%), reduced levels of triglycerides (44%), cholesterol (14%), and blood glucose (8%), and increased microbiota diversity (2%) versus control diet. In human studies, doses up to 7% of edible insect inclusion level produced a significant improvement in gut health (6%) and reduction in systemic inflammation (2%) versus control diets and a significant increase in blood concentrations of essential and branched-chain amino acids and slowing of digestion (40%) versus whey treatment., Postprint (published version)

Background: Plant- and insect-based foods are promising alternative protein sources. Previous studies have shown that introducing plant-based foods to the diet can reduce meat intake, but no such intervention has explored the effects of insect-based foods. Methods: This study aims to integrate alternative proteins to main meals of 80 Danish families through a 6-week two-arm randomized intervention trial to investigate acceptance, consumption, and potential for meat replacement. The primary outcome is the replacement of dietary meat protein with plant- or insect-based protein from the intervention foods assessed through change in daily meat protein intake, proportion of meat protein to total protein intake, and counts of dinner meals with meat and intervention products. Conclusion: The results of this study will contribute to research in alternative proteins and explore the effects of long-term exposure of meat replacement. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05156853.

This work aimed to evaluate the digestibility of defatted Hermetia illucens larvae meal (HM), and its effects as fishmeal (FM) replacement on growth performance, feed and nutrient utilisation, and whole-body composition of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) juveniles. To assess apparent digestibility coefficients (ADC) of defatted HM, a reference-diet (43% crude protein (CP); 17% crude lipid (CL)) and a test-diet, in which 30% of the reference diet was replaced with defatted HM, were formulated. To assess the effect of dietary FM replacement, four isonitrogenous (43% CP) and isolipid (18% CL) diets were formulated to include defatted HM at 0 (HM0), 15 (HM15), 30 (HM30), and 45% (HM45), replacing FM at 0, 22, 60, and 100%, respectively. Triplicate groups of fish (initial body weight of 32 g) were randomly assigned to the experimental diets and the growth trial lasted for 67 days. The digestibility trials were conducted in a digestibility system, and each diet was tested in triplicate. Protein, lipid, and energy digestibility of defatted HM were high (>74%). Replacement of FM by defatted HM did not compromise the ADC of protein and lipid, while ADC of dry matter and energy increased. Complete dietary replacement of FM by defatted HM had no negative effects on growth performance, feed efficiency, whole-body composition, and protein utilisation of gilthead seabream juveniles, establishing the potential of defatted HM as an alternative ingredient for aquafeeds.

Insects represent a promising source of proteins and have been reported as a great potential for being used as novel food and feed proteins. This makes them a valuable source of nutrients to face the increasing demand of food necessitated by the growing global population. The current European food legislation on novel food (EU Reg. 2015/2283), which entered into force in 2018, provides the provisions that should be considered in the applications for the authorisation of novel foods in the European market. Insects, intended as an alternative source of food proteins for human consumption, are considered novel foods. Since food allergens are mostly proteins, the analysis and identification of the potential allergenicity of novel proteins should be a fundamental activity that enables the applicants to fulfil the requirements for the application and authorisation to bring a novel food into the European market and ensures a high level of food safety for the European consumers. The main aims of the work of the EU-FORA fellow were to: (i) Review, assess and identify gaps in the current strategies for predicting allergenicity of novel foods and new alternative protein sources; and (ii) Familiarise, understand and perform an allergenicity assessment of a novel food protein source by: (a) Working on an allergenicity assessment case study of insect proteins from black soldier fly larva (Hermetia Illucens); and (b) Taking into consideration other risk assessment aspects of insects as novel food, including toxicological, nutritional and microbial risks. The project contributed to the continuous learning of the fellow on practical assays and methodologies for the in silico, in vitro and in vivo analysis principles and complemented personal skills related to the food risk assessment requirement for the preparation and submission of an application for authorisation of a novel food.

Investigating the impact of diet on public health using risk-benefit assessment (RBA) methods that simultaneously consider both beneficial and adverse health outcomes could be useful for shaping dietary policies and guidelines. In the field of food safety and nutrition, RBA is a relatively new approach facing methodological challenges and being subject to further developments. One of the methodological aspects calling for improvement is the selection of components to be considered in the assessment, currently based mainly on non-harmonized unstandardized experts' judgment. Our aim was to develop a harmonized, transparent, and documented methodological framework for selecting nutritional, microbiological, and toxicological RBA components. The approach was developed under the Novel foods as red meat replacers-an insight using Risk-Benefit Assessment methods (NovRBA) case study, which attempted to estimate the overall health impact of replacing red meat with an edible insect species, Acheta domesticus. Starting from the compositional profiles of both food items, we created a "long list" of food components. By subsequently applying a series of predefined criteria, we proceeded from the "long" to the "short list." These criteria were established based on the occurrence and severity of health outcomes related to these components. For nutrition and microbiology, the occurrence of health outcomes was evaluated considering the presence of a component in the raw material, as well as the effect of processing on the respective component. Regarding toxicology, the presence and exposure relative to reference doses and the contribution to total exposure were considered. Severity was graded with the potential contribution to the background diet alongside bioavailability aspects (nutrition), the disability-adjusted life years per case of illness of each hazard (microbiology), and disease incidence in the population, potential fatality, and lifelong disability (toxicology). To

As a consequence of the increased demand for proteins for both feed and food, alternative protein sources from green plants such as alfalfa (Medicago sativa) have come into focus, together with methods to recover these proteins. In this study, we have investigated the use of screw presses for protein recovery from alfalfa at laboratory and pilot scale. We found that using a pilot scale screw press, with a working pressure of 6 bar, 16% of the total protein was recovered in one pressing, and that after rehydrating and repressing the alfalfa up to ten times, 48% of the total protein could be recovered. The green alfalfa protein concentrate was analyzed for total protein, amino acid profile, protein digestibility, color, ash, fiber and fat content. It was found that repetitive pressings lowered the digestibility of the protein pool and reduced the total protein concentration due to dilution. To achieve the best quality protein at the highest concentrations, it is recommended to press the alfalfa no more than twice, which results in an alfalfa protein concentrate with more than 32% soluble protein and greater than 82% digestibility.

Consumer diversification and concerns about insufficient protein supply and global malnutrition demand for an exploitation of alternative protein sources such as plant proteins. While manufacturers have made substantial progress in industrially scaled extraction processes and structuring of plant proteins e.g. by extrusion, there is still a lack of information on their fundamental functional and organoleptic properties and interactions with other ingredients in traditional formulations. As a result, food product developers are facing a lot of challenges and are often forced to base their work on trial-and-error rather than mechanistically guided approaches. This is in particular the case for foods where complex raw material requirements and production processes make the manufacture of products with high acceptance and shelf stability not trivial. This includes the design of hybrid meat products that are composed of mixtures of meat and plant proteins. There, traditional meat products are often set as a benchmark, making the performance of such mixed products mostly unsatisfactory. Establishing composition material property functionality relationships may be a first step to overcome these obstacles. Therefore, a variety of plant proteins was assessed for their composition, physicochemical properties, and techno functionalities to gain an understanding of their suitability for the formulation of hybrid meat products. This included their dispersibility, the miscibility of select plant protein fractions with solubilized meat proteins at varying pH and mixing ratios, and the characterization of their odor-active compounds. The latter included powdered as well as extruded plant proteins due to their increasing relevance in the manufacture of hybrid meat and analogue products. Following this, plant proteins were screened in terms of their performance in hybrid meat formulations and during traditional manufacture with a special focus on dry cured products in order to define, Die Verfügbarkeit von Pflanzenproteinen muss weiter ausgebaut werden, um sich einerseits der zunehmenden Verbraucherdiversifizierung im Lebensmittelbereich anzupassen und andererseits den Problemen der Rohstoffverknappung und des Welthungers entgegenzutreten. Obwohl viele Industrieprozesse zur Extraktion und Strukturierung von Pflanzenproteinen in den letzten Jahren entwickelt wurden, fehlt es immer noch an Kenntnissen über die grundlegenden funktionellen und sensorischen Eigenschaften pflanzlicher Proteine und deren Wechselwirkungen mit anderen Inhaltsstoffen. Dies erschwert eine mechanistisch getriebene Produktentwicklung, vor allem bei Produkten mit komplexen Rohstoffanforderungen und Produktionsprozessen. Infolgedessen werden nach wie vor viele Produktentwicklungen als kostspielige und zeitraubende Trial-and-Error Versuche konzipiert. Dies schließt die Kategorie der Hybridfleischprodukte mit ein, die aus Mischungen tierischer und pflanzlicher Rohstoffe bestehen. Derzeit ist die Akzeptanz derartiger Produkte noch ungenügend, da die qualitativen Attribute von traditionellen Fleisch- und Wurstwaren oft zum Vergleich herangezogen werden. Um zu einem systematischeren Ansatz beim Design von Hybridprodukten zu kommen und qualitativ hochwertigere Hybridlebensmittel herzustellen, ist die Etablierung eines mechanistischen Zusammenhangs zwischen Rohstoffzusammensetzung, physikochemischen Eigenschaften der darin enthaltenen Pflanzenproteine und deren Technofunktionalität notwendig. Im Zuge dieser Dissertation wurden aus diesem Grund eine große Anzahl an Pflanzenproteinen auf ihre funktionellen Eigenschaften und Eignung in Hybridfleischprodukten untersucht. Dies umfasste ihre Löslichkeit und Mischbarkeit mit gelösten Fleischproteinen in Abhängigkeit von pH und Mischungsverhältnis, die Charakterisierung geruchsaktiver Komponenten ausgewählter Pflanzenproteine, deren Veränderung durch Nass- und Trockentexturierung und schließlich die Bestimmung der Produkteigenschaften hybride, Erbsen und Kartoffelproteine durch die darin enthaltenen Albumine und Globuline gut bis sehr gut löslich waren. Eine Kartoffelproteinfraktion mit niedrigem Molekulargewicht (< 24 kDa) wurde aufgrund ihrer Löslichkeit von 100 % näher untersucht. Die Partikelgröße und die elektrostatischen und hydrophoben Oberflächeneigenschaften wurden bestimmt und mit Mischungen aus wasser- und salzlöslichen Fleischproteinen zwischen pH 3.0 und 7.0 und bei verschiedenen Mischungsverhältnissen verglichen. Der isoelektrische Punkt (pI) der salzlöslichen Fleischproteine (pH ~ 5.5) stellte einen wichtigen Grenzwert für das Phasenverhalten der Mischungen dar, da an diesem Punkt (pH > pI) die isotropen Lösungen in einen zwei-phasigen, aggregierten Zustand (pH ≤ pI) übergingen. Es entstanden dichte, unregelmäßig geformte „Heteroprotein“ Partikel, die sich in ihrer Morphologie wesentlich von der für Fleischproteine typischen anisotropen fasrigen Struktur unterschieden. Dies deutete auf einen Störeffekt der Kartoffelproteine auf die typische Selbstassoziation der Fleischproteinen unterhalb ihres pI hin, welcher auf Veränderungen der elektrostatischen (Oberflächenladung) und hydrophoben (Oberflächenhydrophobizität) Protein-Protein Interaktionen zurückgeführt werden konnte. So nahm die Partikelgröße der Fleischproteine im Vergleich zu 50:50 Mischungen von 18.0 ± 2.9 µm (pH 3.0) auf 26.8 ± 9.0 µm (pH 3.0) zu. Eine FTIR Analyse validierte den Zusammenhang der makro- und mikroskopischen Beobachtungen mit Mischungsverhältnis und pH Wert. Eine Bildanalyse verdeutlichte zudem eine Veränderung der länglichen, vernetzten Fleischprotein-Aggregate hin zu ungeordneten und unregelmäßigen Heteroproteinstrukturen mit geringer Anisotropie. Da organoleptische Eigenschaften von großer Bedeutung sind, um die Eignung von Pflanzenproteinen in Lebensmitteln abzuschätzen, wurden zwei Erbsenproteinisolate mit Hilfe von Gaschromatographie kombiniert mit Massenspektroskopie und Olfaktometrie (GC MS-O) untersucht

The expected global population growth to 9.7 billion people in 2050 and the significant change in global dietary patterns require an increase in global food production by about 60%. The protein supply for feed and food is most critical and requires an extension in protein sources. Edible insects can upgrade low-grade side streams of food production into high-quality protein, amino acids and vitamins in a very efficient way. Insects are considered to be the “missing link” in the food chain of a circular and sustainable economy. Insects and insect-derived products have entered the European market since first being acknowledged as a valuable protein source for feed and food production in around 2010. However, today, scaling up the insect value chain in Europe is progressing at a relatively slow pace. The mission of SUSINCHAIN (SUStainable INsect CHAIN) - a four-year project which has received funding from the European Commission - is to contribute to novel protein provision for feed and food in Europe by overcoming the remaining barriers for increasing the economic viability of the insect value chain and opening markets by combining forces in a comprehensive multi-actor consortium. The overall project objective is to test, pilot and demonstrate recently developed technologies, products and processes, to realize a shift up to Technology Readiness Level 6 or higher. In addition to these crucial activities, the project engages with stakeholders in the insect protein supply chain for feed and food by living labs and workshops. These actions provide the necessary knowledge and data for actors in the insect value chain to decrease the cost price of insect products, process insects more efficiently and market insect protein applications in animal feed and regular human diets that are safe and sustainable. This paves the way for further upscaling and commercialization of the European insect sector.

The world population is increasing, and our current agricultural practices are not sustainable enough to address the concerns. Alternative proteins including plant-based proteins would provide a more sustainable source of food and feed ingredients. Among food systems, the aquaculture industry is rapidly growing, while still depending on marine sources as a main source of protein. Thus, using alternative plant-based proteins as a source for developing aquafeed would make this industry more viable. Sorghum is a valuable grain with high protein contents, proper mineral and fatty acids balance, and is available all around the world. However, sorghum has not been used widely for aquafeed development. In this review article, we cover sorghum production, composition, sorghum as a protein source for aquafeed development, and bioprocessing methods for enhancing the quality of sorghum.

Conventional meat consumption has triggered an environmental burden along with effects on different disease spectrums according to existing research. The dietary patterns adopted by consumers significantly impact both planetary and individual health. Interventions are needed to support the protein transition. However, there is not yet an overview of interventions towards acceptance of novel proteins available. This systemic review highlights different varieties of alternative proteins and interventions adopted to increase the acceptance of alternative protein sources. Educational intervention, persuasion, training, and modeling approaches are summarized in this review. Furthermore, behavioral models triggering the consumer’s response towards different alternative proteins are also discussed. The systemic review highlights that consumer acceptance varies among different alternative proteins. Food choice motives, familiarity, food neophobia, disgust, and cultural norms are among the various drivers of consumer acceptance. A comparison of these drivers indicates inconsistencies, presenting the need for future research.

Over the past decade, a plethora of alternative protein (AP) products has entered the US food system as plant-based food and beverage products. These AP products, which include plant-based meat and dairy alternatives and cell-cultured meat and seafood products, are being developed for the marketplace to simulate the appearance, texture, taste, and flavor and nutritional profiles of animal products. The new generation of AP plant-based and cell-cultured food and beverage products are part of a market-driven narrative that has embraced technology to address future human health, environmental, ethical, and planetary health challenges. This perspective article synthesizes evidence about the benefits of adopting minimally processed plant-based diets that support sustainable food systems and human and planetary health. Thereafter, it examines 4 wicked challenges related to AP products in the US context that include 1) a confusing marketing landscape for the public; 2) diverse views and varying acceptance among consumers about the health and environmental benefits of these products; 3) inadequate education and labeling provided by federal agencies to enable consumers to understand how these may support healthy sustainable diets; and 4) slow federal policy and regulatory actions to address the range of AP products and provide industry guidance. The article concludes with suggested policies and actions for government agencies and food system actors to address these challenges. Future research and actions are needed to balance the human health, equity, animal welfare, and economic viability goals and to clarify how AP products may support safe, healthy, sustainable diets and food systems.

We are living in increasingly uncertain times and the burden of sustainability is great. The call for transformation towards sustainability is nowhere louder than in New Zealand’s agri-food sector. As the reconciliation between social, cultural, environmental and economic domains continues, there is a need to shift away from a vision of disaster to one of hope. Existing narratives of change need to be challenged to allow space for desirable futures to flourish. Currently, there is pressure for science research to deliver real-world impact. Speculative design can help steer the direction of science research to deliver on it’s ambition for impact by identifying desirable futures to work towards. Within this practice-based research, a speculative design approach is explored as part of science research programme development. Speculative design can enable collective dreaming about possible futures to guide present-day decisions with future aspirations and development towards transformation. With tenets in sustainability transitions theory, this project reinterprets design concepts like the Ethnographic Experiential Futures cycle and Experiential Futures Ladder to generate sustainability scenarios with a live science programme. The role of design(er) and the potential of a speculative design approach is investigated within a science research organisation. Lessons from this research are synthesised into a prototype toolkit for aid strategic thought and generate speculative visions of transformation within AgResearch. Design is used throughout this project to challenge the status quo of how science research is conducted, specifically in the initial stages of research programme design and organisational strategy development. By creating hopeful visions that challenge the current mindset and compel action towards sustainability within a science research organisation, design can play a crucial role in sustainability transitions by intentionally leveraging organisational strate

The necessity of sustainable transitions has become more and more acknowledged in recent years. From these changes, specific markets have recently been emerging which are closely tied to sustainable development. An industry which is particularly critical for enabling such transitions is the food industry where the current eating patterns have been linked to an array of issues with the considerable reliance on animal-based products often pointed out as a major concern. From a raising awareness and technological changes, a market has arisen which aims at supplying proteins from alternative sources to animal exploitation. By inquiring this specific market referred to as the Alternative Proteins (AP) market, the core objective of this thesis is to extend the knowledge regarding markets associated with sustainability. More specifically, recognizing the rapid-evolution of such markets, the inquiries are directed towards the entry mechanisms as it is seen as key dynamics influencing the evolution of such markets. An in-depth understanding of market entry regarding diverse dimensions including motivations, barriers and entry strategies could thus be achieved. Recognizing a shortcoming in the scientific understanding of stakeholder collaboration as an entry strategy, an emphasis on these collaborative entry strategies prevailed in our investigations. Eight firms having recently or longer ago entered the AP market have been interviewed to provide the empirical material for the thematic analysis. The theoretical framework was built around the resource-based view (RBV), supplemented by other theories including Creating Shared Value (CSV) and Porter’s classification of barriers which granted an enhanced theoretical lens to arrive at significant insights resulting from our inquiries. New entrants were thus found to have both financial and social/ environmental dimensions embedded in their entry motivations. It was also concluded that the adoption of collaboration as an entry stra

Over the last decade, the urgency to find alternative and sustainable protein sources has prompted an exponential increase in the interest in insects as a human food source. Edible insects contribute suitable amounts of energy and protein, fatty acids, and micronutrients to the human diet. Nutritional values of insects can be manipulated to meet specific needs. Edible insects in food-insecure countries can contribute to improving diets and preventing undernutrition. Bioactive compounds in insects may reduce health risks. Food safety risks are low and mainly relate to those of allergenicity. Strategies to overcome barriers to the consumption of insect products include emphasizing their sustainability, increasing their tastiness, and developing the ability to disguise insects in familiar products. A new sector of insects as food and feed is emerging. Major challenges include legislation, lowering prices by automation and cheap substrates, developing insect products that appeal to consumers, and exploring the health benefits.

Insects are suggested as a sustainable protein source of high nutritional quality, but the effects of insect ingestion on processes in the gastrointestinal tract and gut microbiota (GM) remain to be established. We examined the effects of partial substitution of meat with insect protein (Alphitobius diaperinus) in a four-week dietary intervention in a healthy rat model (n = 30). GM composition was characterized using’ 16S rRNA gene amplicon profiling while the metabolomes of stomach, small intestine, and colon content, feces and blood were investigated by1H-NMR spectroscopy. Metabolomics analyses revealed a larger escape of protein residues into the colon and a different microbial metabolization pattern of aromatic amino acids when partly substituting pork with insect. Both for rats fed a pork diet and rats fed a diet with partial replacement of pork with insect, the GM was dominated by Lactobacillus, Clostridium cluster XI and Akkermansia. However, Bray-Curtis dissimilarity metrics were different when insects were included in the diet. Introduction of insects in a common Western omnivore diet alters the gut microbiome diversity with consequences for endogenous metabolism. This finding highlights the importance of assessing gastrointestinal tract effects when evaluating new protein sources as meat replacements.

[EN] A projected global population growth by 2050 and climate change crises have led to increasing demand in edible protein sources; thus, scientific research and food industries are searching for alternatives. In this study, we investigated the incorporation of plant- and insect-based protein sources in wheat-based formulations. The Alveographic properties of dough and the eects on bread physicochemical and sensory characteristics were analysed. Including pea protein or insect powder improved the nutritional value, increasing protein content, but influenced the dough and bread properties. Pea protein significantly increased the dough extensibility (L), tenacity (P), and their ratio (P/L) in dough with insect blends and the control. Bread texture properties were significantly affected by the addition of pea and insect flour. Higher amounts of pea protein incorporation increased hardness values and showed a mean cell area lower than the control bread. Crust colour analysis showed significant dierences concerning the control bread, while crumb colour was aected by the flour colour. Word association analysis showed insect bread was associated with an emotional dimension, wheat bread was linked with ¿tradition¿, and pea bread was associated with "fruit and vegetable".

[EN] A trial of 154 days of duration was carried out to assess the use of an alternative protein blend (wheat gluten meal, corn gluten meal, krill meal and meat meal) as a substitute for fish meal in diets for juvenile greater amberjack (38 g average initial weight), using four isolipidic (140 g kg-1) and isoenergetic extrude diets (24 MJ kg-1) with the same digestible protein (50%). The control diet was FM100, without fishmeal substitution and in the FM66, FM33 and FM0 diets, the fishmeal was replaced at 33, 66 and 100%, respectively. At the end of the experiment no differences in growth parameters were obtained, but a clear tendency of diminishing final weight and specific growth rate (SGR) was observed when the protein mixture dietary levels increased. Survival was negatively affected due to an undetermined fish disease causing high mortality; fish fed the FM0 diet exhibited the lowest survival (23%). A possible explanation of this mortality could found in a dietary amino acid imbalance and or some anti-nutrients factors contained in animal and vegetable meals. With regard to nutritive parameters, daily feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and, digestible protein intake (DPI), were similar in all the diets; however, the digestible energy intake (DEI) was lowest in fish fed the FM0 diet. No differences were found in the protein efficiency ratio (PER). In terms of whole body composition, significant differences were found in protein composition and about retention indices, only protein efficiency retention showed significant differences. Regarding the digestibility, the ADC for protein, energy and amino acids were diminishing according the fishmeal substitution. Significant differences were observed in the ratio between diet and whole fish body profile (AA) for all essential amino acids. In summary, it can conclude that the total fishmeal replacement by the alternative protein blend assayed was not feasible for yellowtail feeding, because cause a detrimen, {ES] Durante 154 días se ensayó la sustitución parcial y total de la harina de pescado por una mezcla de fuentes proteicas alternativas (harina de gluten de trigo, harina de gluten de maíz, harina de krill y harina de carne) en piensos extrusionados para juveniles de Seriola dumerili (peso medio inicial de 38 g). Se usaron cuatro dietas isolipídicas (140 g kg-1), isoenergéticas (24 MJ kg-1) e isoproteicas (50% de proteína digestible), con un nivel de sustitución de la harina de pescado del 0, 33, 66 y 100% (dietas FM100, FM66, FM33 y FM0, respectivamente). Al final de la experiencia, no se encontraron diferencias significativas en los parámetros de crecimiento, aunque el peso final y la tasa de crecimiento instantáneo (TCI), disminuyeron con el nivel de sustitución. La supervivencia final disminuyó significativamente en la dieta FM0, debido probablemente a un balance aminoacídico dietario incorrecto y/o a la presencia de factores antinutricionales. Respecto a los parámetros nutritivos, la tasa de alimentación diaria (TAD), índice de conversión del alimento (ICA) e ingesta de proteína digestible (IPD), fueron semejantes; sin embargo, la dieta FM0 tuvo la menor ingesta de energía digestible (IED). No se observaron diferencias significativas en el coeficiente de eficacia en crecimiento (CEC). A nivel de composición corporal, al final de la experiencia se obtuvieron diferencias significativas en el contenido proteico, y en relación a los índices de retención, sólo el valor productivo de la proteína (VPP) mostró diferencias significativas. Los coeficientes de digestibilidad aparentes para la proteína, energía y aminoácidos tendieron a disminuir al aumentar el nivel de sustitución. Se detectaron diferencias significativas en la razón entre el perfil de aminoácidos en las dietas respecto al perfil corporal, para todos los aminoácidos esenciales. Podemos concluir que la sustitución total de la harina de pescado por los componentes proteicos alternativos utilizados en nuestr