WO2015134033A1

WO2015134033A1 - Protein replacement in foodstuffs

Info

Publication number: WO2015134033A1
Application number: PCT/US2014/021464
Authority: WO
Inventors: Neil BLASER
Original assignee: Blaser Neil
Priority date: 2014-03-07
Filing date: 2014-03-07
Publication date: 2015-09-11

Abstract

The invention includes a foodstuff containing insect protein hydrolysate for the feeding and nutrition of animals and a foodstuff used for the feeding of animals containing 1-75% w/w insect protein hydrolysate. Furthermore, the invention includes a method for formulating a foodstuff used for the feeding animals containing 1-75% w/w insect protein hydrolysate. Potential uses for said foodstuffs are also described.

Description

PROTEIN REPLACEMENT IN FOODSTUFFS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the use of insect protein hydrolysates to replace other protein constitutents in animal and human foodstuffs- Animals raised under modern conditions optimized for growth promotion receive rations containing high proportions of protein, usually in the form of menhaden meal. Other forms of protein have been investigated previously to replace the menhaden component of feeds, but so far none have proven to be without side effects to either the quality of the food or the rate of weight gain possible. Simple preparations of insect protein have been investigated previously, but these have also shown to have the same deleterious effects on weight gain and conversion ratios. This is the case despite the significant similarity of the amino acid makeup between insect proteins and menhaden meal. Unprocessed insect protein contains a number of anti-nutrient compounds, like chitin, that reduces its digestibility and palatability to animals.

Furthermore, fish meal has serious ecological consequences due to the severe overfishing for production of foodstuffs. The use of an insect protein to replace the fish meal component of animal feeds would provide a significant ecological advantage due to the sustainability of insect farming using commercial sources of organic waste. Additionally, insect protein could compete with fish meals on price, with the cost of feed being 50-70% of the cost of any concentrated animal feeding operation.

Due to both the ecological and the economic consequences of capture fisheries for the protein constituent of animal feeds, there is an immediate and increasing need to find a safe, sustainable, and effective replacement for fish meal in animal feeds. There is also a need for a method describing how to use an alternate protein source to replace the protein constituent of fish meal.

The use of insect protein hydrolysate to improve the bioavailability, palatability, digestibility, and morbidity parameters of insect-derived protein is a novel solution to these issues. While there is prior art concerning the use of insect protein in animal nutrition, there is no prior art concerning the hydrolysate of the insect protein. This is important to note as the hydrolysate has significant factors to make it more suited to animal nutrition than the unprocessed protein. And while there is prior art of the use of hydrolysate in animal nutrition, none of the prior art of this nature was concerning the use of protein derived from insect sources. It is important that this be noted, as insects have a number of advantages over other previously studied forms of hydrolysate, such as ease of mass production and ability to be used to dispose of organic wastes. Furthermore, while this may seem to suggest that the use of insect protein hydrolysate would be an obvious step to one skilled in the art, the non- obvious nature of this advancement is supported by the significant body of literature reporting on the problems with insect protein based feeds, without any prior mention of the use of hydrolysis to improve upon the quality of the feed. As a number of scientists who study insects as a potential food source for animals have not suggested that hydrolysis be used to improve bioavailability, it must be concluded that this is not obvious to one skilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect, the invention features a foodstuff including insect protein hydrolysate or a component thereof. The foodstuff can include from 1 % to 75% w/w of insect protein hydrolysate, depending on the particular nutritional needs of the target species. As the insect protein hydrolysate is capable of being a complete or partial substitute for fish meal, this component can be added such that the total protein in the animal feed is consistent with feed industry standards.

In a second aspect, the invention features a method of promoting weight gain in an animal by administering to the animal insect protein hydrolysate or a component thereof in an amount effective to promote weight gain.

In a third aspect, the invention features a method of maintaining feed conversion efficiency for insect protein by using hydrolysis to boost the bioavailability, digestibility, and/or palatability of the protein component.

In a fourth aspect, the invention features a method of maintaining feed conversion efficiency in an animal by administering to the animal insect protein hydrolysate or a component thereof in an amount effective to increase feed conversion efficiency.

In an embodiment of any of the aspects described herein, the insect protein hydrolysate is used as a bulk additive, replacing at a 1 : 1 ratio the current protein component of the animal feed. Alternatively, a composition including both the insect protein hydrolysate and another protein component can be mixed to provide the required protein fraction.

In another embodiment of any of the aspects described herein, the animal is selected from humans, dogs, cats, horses, sheep, swine, cattle, poultry, and aquatic animals.

In another embodiment of any of the aspects described herein, the insect protein is derived from the larvae of Hermetia illucens or Musca domestica. Foodstuffs of the invention include, without limitation, baked goods, beverages, beverage mixes, health bars, biscuits, and animal feeds. The animal feed may be a dry or semi-moist pet food, or feed for an agricultural animal, such as horse feed, swine feed (e.g., nursery/starter swine feed, grow-finish swine feed, or breeding herd swine feed), poultry feed (e.g., turkey poultry feed, broilers poultry feed, or breeders poultry feed), sheep feed, cattle feed (e.g., dairy cattle feed or beef cattle feed), or aquatic animal feed (e.g., tilapia feed, catfish feed, trout feed, crustacean feed, or salmon feed).

Foodstuffs of the invention may further include any additives or components other than insect protein hydrolysate that are considered to be standard components or additives of the foodstuff. Some examples would include without limitation antibiotic compounds, flavor enhancing compounds, binders, hormones, or any other fraction or component that is commonly used in commercial animal feeds.

As used herein, an "amount effective to promote weight gain" is an amount of insect protein hydrolysate that causes a statistically similar or statistically greater amount of weight gain to a control group using a

commercially available feed, such control group using a commercially available feed containing a protein fraction different from insect protein hydrolysate, being fed to an animal of the same species and age being raised under similar conditions.

As used herein, to "maintain feed conversion efficiency" refers to an amount of insect protein hydrolysate that causes a statistically similar or statistically greater amount of feed conversion to a control group using a commercially available feed, such control group using a commercially available feed containing a protein fraction different from insect protein hydrolysate being fed to an animal of the same species and age being raised under similar conditions.

By "animal" is meant any animal including, without limitation, humans, dogs, cats, horses, sheep, swine, cattle, poultry, and aquatic animals.

As used herein, "insect protein hydrolysate" refers to an insect protein that has been hydrolysed using an enzymatic, chemical, autosomal, or any other method of hydrolysis.

The compositions and methods of the invention can be used to promote weight gain and increase feed conversion efficiency in animals.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following Detailed Description and the claims. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention provides an alternative form of protein to be used in animal feeds. This protein can be useful for weight gain, feed conversion, and cost reduction in the feeding of animals.

Administration

The insect protein hydrolysate or a component thereof is administered in an amount effective to promote weight gain or effective to increase feed conversion efficiency. For insect protein hydrolysate, typical protein dosages will replace either a percentage or the whole of the specified industry standard protein levels in the animal feed. Desirably, due to cost reduction concerns, the insect protein hydrolysate will comprise the entirety of the protein fraction, but the invention also covers partial replacement of the currently used protein fractions.

Foodstuffs

Insect protein hydrolysate or a component thereof can be admixed with a foodstuff and fed to the animal in an amount effective to promote weight gain or effective to increase feed conversion efficiency. This admixture is intended to replace in whole or in part the current protein constituent of a foodstuff. Furthermore, insect protein hydrolysate or a component thereof can be mixed with a foodstuff for the purpose of reducing the cost of the foodstuff. This mixture would replace in whole or in part the protein fraction of the foodstuff.

Additionally, insect protein hydrolysate or a component thereof can be used in a foodstuff designed for disaster relief and inexpensive nutrition, or any other scenario requiring inexpensive protein-rich foodstuffs. The insect protein hydrolysate would be used to reduce the cost of the protein component of the foodstuff and would be used as either a partial or complete replacement of the currently used protein fraction of the foodstuff.

Animal Feeds

Animal feeds of the present invention will always contain insect protein hydrolysate or a component thereof in an amount effective to maintain weight gain and/or feed conversion. The animal feeds are generally formulated to provide nutrients in accordance with industry standards. The feeds may be formulated from a variety of different feed ingredients, which are chosen according to market price and availability. Accordingly, some components of the feed may change over time. For discussions on animal feed formulations and N RC guidelines, see Church, Livestock Feeds and Feeding, O&B Books, Inc., Corvallis Oreg. (1984) and Feeds and Nutrition Digest, Ensminger, Oldfield and Heineman eds., Ensminger Publishing Corporation, Clovis, Calif. (1990), each of which is incorporated herein by reference. Swine and other animal feeds are traditionally balanced based upon protein and energy requirements, and then adjusted if needed to meet the other requirements, which will vary for the different stages of growth and maintenance of the animal. Growing young animals will require higher protein feeds, while finishing animals close to market will require higher energy, high carbohydrate, feeds. For example, typical hog prestarter, starter and grower-finisher feeds will generally contain about 20-24% protein, 18-20% protein and 13-17% protein respectively. In some feeding situations, care must be taken to provide the appropriate amino acids as well as overall protein content. For example, hogs fed large amounts of corn must have adequate lysine made available in the feed. In most animal diets, energy requirements are met by starches in cereal grains. Energy requirements may also be met by addition of fat to the feed. Animal feeds containing insect protein hydrolysate or a component thereof may also be formulated for dogs, cats, poultry, fish, and cattle, among others.

Other ingredients may be added to the animal feed as needed to promote the health and growth of the animal . The ingredients include, without limitation, sugars, complex carbohydrates, amino acids (e.g., arginine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, valine, tyrosine, alanine, aspartic acid, sodium glutamate, glycine, proline, serine, and cysteine, among others), vitamins (e.g., thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, niacin, niacinamide, inositol, choline chloride, calcium pantothenate, biotin, folic acid, ascorbic acid, and vitamins A, B, K, D, E, among others), minerals, other proteins (e.g., meat meal, fish meal, liquid or powdered egg, fish solubles, whey protein concentrate), oils (e.g., soybean oil), cornstarch, calcium, inorganic phosphate, copper sulfate, and sodium chloride. Any medicament ingredients known in the art may also be added to the animal feed, including, without limitation, antibiotics and hormones. For vitamin, mineral and antibiotic supplementation of animal feeds see Church, Livestock Feeds and Feeding, O&B Books, Inc., Corvallis Oreg. (1984).

Any animal feed blend known in the art can be used in accordance with the present invention. In situations where the resulting feed is to be processed or preserved, the feed may be mixed with insect protein hydrolysate or a component thereof before processing or preservation. Desireably, the feed blend contains no other major source of protein.

Processing may include drying, ensiling, chopping, pelleting, cubing, baling, rolling, tempering, grinding, cracking, popping, extruding, micronizing, roasting, flaking, cooking, and/or exploding. For example, pelleted feed is created by first mixing feed components and then compacting and extruding the feed components through a die with heat and pressure. Animal feeds of the invention can be pelleted as described in, for example, MacBain, Pelleting Animal Feed, American Feed Manufacturers Association, Arlington, Va. (1974), incorporated herein by reference. Baked Goods and Beverages

Foodstuffs of the invention can be in the form of a health bar, preferably supplied in foil or other types of wrappers, as is commonly seen in most food markets, convenience stores and health food stores. Typically, such health bars are commonly made by a machine extrusion process that extrudes the mixed ingredients into the desired size and shape bar, which is then conveyed to automatic wrapping machinery. Health bars may be baked, rather than extruded.

The foodstuff may also be extruded, baked, rolled, pressed, cut or otherwise formed into bars or baked goods, such as cookies, brownies, cakes or muffins. In the manufacturing process for bars that are extruded, ingredients such as glycerin, lecithin, vegetable and other oils (such as sunflower oil) are used in part to help bind ingredients together so as to help form a uniformly shaped bar in the extrusion machinery. Such known processes can be used to produce the health bars and baked goods of the present invention.

Foodstuffs of the invention can be in the form of a ready-to-drink beverage, requiring no addition of water and/or mixing with water or other liquids, or a powder or a liquid concentrate that is mixed with water, fruit juice, fruit and/or other flavored drinks, and/or fruit drink concentrates to make, for example, a flavored beverage, or with milk to make a drink having a character similar to that of a milk-shake.

The following examples are put forth so as to provide those of ordinary skill in the art with a complete disclosure and description of how the methods and compositions claimed herein are performed, made, and evaluated, and are intended to be purely exemplary of the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of what the inventor regards as his invention.

EXAMPLE 1

A trout feed formula consisting of 45% fish meal protein and 55% other components (fats, carbohydrates, bulking agents, taste amendments, pharmaceuticals, or any other component considered standard practice in the animal feed industry) is reformulated to consist of 45% insect protein hydrolysate and 55% of the other components, with no changes to the other components. This amended trout feed can be fed in the same manner prescribed for the original formulation.

EXAMPLE 2 A trout feed consisting of 45% fish meal protein, and 55% other components (fats, carbohydrates, bulking agents, taste amendments, pharmaceuticals, or any other component considered standard practice in the animal feed industry) is reformulated to consist of 20% insect protein hydrolysate and 25% fish meal protein and 55% of the other components, with no changes made to the other components. This amended trout feed can be fed in the same manner prescribed for the original formulation.

EXAMPLE 3

A protein supplement bar consisting of 50% soy protein and 50% other components (fats, carbohydrates, bulking agents, taste amendments, pharmaceuticals, or any other component considered standard practice in the supplement industry) is reformulated to consist of 50% insect protein hydrolysate and 50% other components, with no changes to the other components. This amended protein supplement bar can be consumed in the same manner prescribed for the original formulation.

OTHER EMBODIMENTS

All publications and patent applications, and patents mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference.

While the invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments, it will be understood that it is capable of further modifications. Therefore, this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention that follow, in general, the principles of the invention, including departures from the present disclosure that come within known or customary practice within the art.

Other embodiments are within the claims.

Claims

What I claim is:

1. A foodstuff comprising from 1% to 75% (w/w) insect protein hydrolysate.

2. The foodstuff of claim 1, wherein said foodstuff is a baked good, beverage, beverage mix, health bar, biscuit, pet food, aquaculture feed, or animal feed.

3. The foodstuff of claim 1, wherein said insect protein hydrolysate is derived from a the larvae of either Hermetia Illucens or Musca Domestica

4. A method for making a foodstuff, said method comprising the step of mixing insect protein hydrolysate with a foodstuff to form a foodstuff comprising from 1% to 75% (w/w) insect protein hydrolysate.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein said foodstuff is a baked good, beverage, beverage mix, health bar, biscuit, pet food, aquaculture feed or animal feed..

6. A method according to claim 3, including the step of forming said composition into particles or pellets.

7. A method according to claim 3, including the step of encapsulating or coating food particles or pellets with said composition.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein said insect protein hydrolysate is derived from a the larvae of either Hermetia Illucens or Musca Domestica

9. A method for enhancing feed consumption and growth rates for aquatic animals comprising adding from 1% to 75% (w/w) insect protein hydrolysate to aquatic animal food.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the aquatic animal is a fish or crustacean.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein said insect protein hydrolysate is derived from a the larvae of either Hermetia Illucens or Musca Domestica