ENTOPROT
The Time For Insect Bioreactor Technology Is Now!
Vertical farming is not necessarily a low-cost way to rear insects. Aside from money spent on boxes and racks, significant investments for automated tray handling systems are necessary. Entoprot presents a new cultivation concept: bioreactor-based rearing. It minimizes the need for space and manual labour. Built-in affordable automation substitutes for expensive robotic systems necessary for box handling in efficient vertical farming.
Entoprot History
Entoprot is a Finnish company developing bioreactor-based technology for insect rearing. Its competence is backed up by over 40 yrs experience in genetics and physiology of fruit flies, which has taught us the genetics, physiology and reproduction of fruit flies. Originally conceived 30 years ago, at the time our concept of automated, mass rearing was ahead of its time. Now the world is different. The threat of the protein crisis is recognized, Hermetia Illucens
(black soldier fly) is already widely applied to insect protein production. The insect industry is becoming more and more aware of the price constraints with both fishmeal and soymeal being noteworthy competitorsory. For a long run the the price level of sustainable protein sources cannot be much higher than the cheapest products on the market.
“Entoprot’s bioreactor provides optimal conditions (good ventilation, moist environment) for the cultivation of the black solder fly larvae…..” – Entoprot
Technology
Such an environment favours microbial activity, and degradation of feed stock and generation of new protein is efficient. Entoprot’s innovative bioreactor design prevents larvae being crushed, and allows efficient ventilation and even distribution of the feed material. The cultivation process starts by pumping in a small amount of feed with minilarvae (newly-hatched larvae cultivated for 3 days). After 8 to10 days cultivation in bioreactor, larvae are then harvested. We estimate that a monthly production capacity of 1200 kg/m3 can be achieved.
Competitive Advantages
Entoprot’s bioreactors fit to companies of all sizes. They need little space, as 1 m3 corresponds to 50 cultivation trays used in vertical farming. Automated tray handling is not needed. Both the amount and the size of bioreactors can be scaled up. Consistent cultivation conditions and consistent quality can be achieved in bioreactors. We believe that the production costs for BSFL can be cut down by at least 50 % by substituting bioreactors for vertical farming.
For more information about ENTOPROT and how they can help optimize your insect farming please read pages 11-12 of Beta Buzz – The MUST-HAVE Insect Farming Publication
Alternatively, for more information on ENTOPROT please visit; www.entoprot.com
