Assessing the environmental sustainability of insects as a source of functional proteins: A prospective LCA

Summary: Insect protein has properties that enable its use as a functional ingredient in food and feed formulations. This study provides a prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) of proteins of Alphitobius diaperinus from an upscaling of a lab-scale process. The functional unit is 1 kg protein, and...

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Main Authors: Alejandro Corona-Mariscal, Neus Sanjuan, Carme Güell, Gabriela Clemente
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Future Foods
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266683352400162X
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author Alejandro Corona-Mariscal
Neus Sanjuan
Carme Güell
Gabriela Clemente
author_facet Alejandro Corona-Mariscal
Neus Sanjuan
Carme Güell
Gabriela Clemente
author_sort Alejandro Corona-Mariscal
collection DOAJ
description Summary: Insect protein has properties that enable its use as a functional ingredient in food and feed formulations. This study provides a prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) of proteins of Alphitobius diaperinus from an upscaling of a lab-scale process. The functional unit is 1 kg protein, and the system boundaries are from the cradle to the processing gate. As the process yields fat as a coproduct, avoided loads and physicochemical allocation are applied. Different results are obtained regardless of how coproducts are dealt with; protein extraction is the unit process that contributes the most to the processing stage. Compared with whey protein isolate, the impacts of A. diaperinus are lower in five of six categories using allocation but only in three categories using avoided loads. This study highlights that the multifunctionality of food systems is crucial in determining the product's impacts, being also critical for comparison purposes.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2666-8335
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publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Elsevier
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series Future Foods
spelling doaj-art-cb83d2cd1bdf476c868fdd89eb84dbaa2024-12-18T08:53:47ZengElsevierFuture Foods2666-83352024-12-0110100457Assessing the environmental sustainability of insects as a source of functional proteins: A prospective LCAAlejandro Corona-Mariscal0Neus Sanjuan1Carme Güell2Gabriela Clemente3FoodUPV, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain; Corresponding author.FoodUPV, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, SpainDepartament d'Enginyeria Química, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avda. Països Catalans 26, 43007 Tarragona, SpainFoodUPV, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camí de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, SpainSummary: Insect protein has properties that enable its use as a functional ingredient in food and feed formulations. This study provides a prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) of proteins of Alphitobius diaperinus from an upscaling of a lab-scale process. The functional unit is 1 kg protein, and the system boundaries are from the cradle to the processing gate. As the process yields fat as a coproduct, avoided loads and physicochemical allocation are applied. Different results are obtained regardless of how coproducts are dealt with; protein extraction is the unit process that contributes the most to the processing stage. Compared with whey protein isolate, the impacts of A. diaperinus are lower in five of six categories using allocation but only in three categories using avoided loads. This study highlights that the multifunctionality of food systems is crucial in determining the product's impacts, being also critical for comparison purposes.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266683352400162XEdible insectsProspective LCAProtein extractionFat extractionUp-scaling
spellingShingle Alejandro Corona-Mariscal
Neus Sanjuan
Carme Güell
Gabriela Clemente
Assessing the environmental sustainability of insects as a source of functional proteins: A prospective LCA
Future Foods
Edible insects
Prospective LCA
Protein extraction
Fat extraction
Up-scaling
title Assessing the environmental sustainability of insects as a source of functional proteins: A prospective LCA
title_full Assessing the environmental sustainability of insects as a source of functional proteins: A prospective LCA
title_fullStr Assessing the environmental sustainability of insects as a source of functional proteins: A prospective LCA
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the environmental sustainability of insects as a source of functional proteins: A prospective LCA
title_short Assessing the environmental sustainability of insects as a source of functional proteins: A prospective LCA
title_sort assessing the environmental sustainability of insects as a source of functional proteins a prospective lca
topic Edible insects
Prospective LCA
Protein extraction
Fat extraction
Up-scaling
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266683352400162X
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