Microbial degradation of oil palm empty fruit bunches as feed for insect larvae

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Food security is a global challenge and various alternative protein approaches are being pursued to fill the gap in demand for animal feed. Our CASE partner, Fera are developing innovative for the mass rearing of insects to provide a safe source of protein for mono-gastric farmed animals. The Black Soldier Fly (BSF) is a saprophagous insect, i.e. feeds on decaying organic matter, is a non-pest, and does not carry and transmissible diseases. Its larvae are, therefore, ideal to farm as animal feed. This project aims to transform existing initiatives through the exploitation of untapped abundant agricultural residues as feed for rearing BSF larvae for animal feed. Decomposing crop residues, such oil palm residues, are potentially an excellent food source for BSF larvae, which are thought to mainly feed on the microbes degrading the lignocellulose in the plant cell walls.The project builds on a considerable body of prior work where we have been using 'omics techniques to identify new lignocellulose processing systems from composting microbial communities. The goal is to use these 'omics techniques to optimise microbial community degradation and harness their metabolic functionality for efficient production of digested crop residues as feed for insects. Specifically:1. To discover highly performing microbial compost communities for biomass digestion2. To characterise the community-level metabolism and identify the essential species and secreted proteins required for efficient lignocellulose deconstruction3. To characterise the novel enzyme activities that enhance lignocellulose degradation forbiorefining applications4. Evaluate digested crop residues as feed for BSF larvae.In parallel, Fera will be conducting underpinning research to improve understanding of the nutritional requirements of BSF larvae for optimal conversion of crop residues to insect biomass.