A Promising Source of Proteins
The Marine Biotechnology research group at NORCE has for several years been working on developing and scaling up photosynthetic microalgae as a sustainable raw material for food, feed, and other products. Microalgae are a type of small "plant cells" found in saltwater and freshwater and are a promising source of proteins for several reasons:
- Many microalgae have high protein content and an amino acid profile that meets the requirements for food and feed production. This is the case for Chlorella vulgaris, used in our study.
- Microalgae have high production efficiency and can be cultivated on non-arable land with low water requirements.
- Waste and residual streams from various industries can be used in the cultivation of microalgae, offering a more sustainable alternative to chemical fertilizers.
Insect production is another new protein source currently being explored in Europe and Norway. Like all types of production, an insect factory will also generate waste, such as insect excrement. In technical terms, this is called frass, a mixture of feces, skin, and skeletons from farmed insects and their food.
In a circular economy, we must better utilize waste. Together with Oliver Müller from the University of Bergen and NORCE colleagues Hanna Böpple and Dorinde Kleinegris, Pia Steinrücken has investigated whether microalgae can be given frass as an alternative to conventional fertilization:
– In the EU-funded ProFuture project, we used insect frass as a potential source of nutrients for cultivating the microalga Chlorella vulgaris, which could make microalgae production more environmentally friendly and cost-effective,” says Steinrücken.