कीट प्रोटीन: वैकल्पिक प्रोटीन अनुप्रयोगों में एक नया अध्याय खोलना

"Developing the alternative protein industry is an important direction for implementing the big food concept. The spring of industry development has arrived. Only by following the trend can we make a difference." Chen Jian, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a professor at Jiangnan University, said at the latest National Microbial Protein Technology Innovation and Industry Development Conference that the "alternative protein" industry manufactures food proteins such as meat, eggs, and milk through workshop production, which has changed the food protein manufacturing model, achieved high - quality supply, and greatly alleviated the problems of traditional protein production methods.

Food protein is the most important nutrient for humans, including meat, eggs, milk and beans. The supply of these traditional proteins mainly depends on planting and breeding. With the growth of population and the development of animal husbandry, coupled with the negative effects of the scarcity of natural resources, the supply of traditional food protein is facing severe tests in terms of quantity, quality, and sustainability.

Data shows that in 2022, my country's soybean production will be 20.28 million tons, and actual consumption will be as high as 110 million tons. The import volume of soybeans reached 91.08 million tons, and the amount involved accounted for 74% of the grain imports that year.

"According to scientific experiments, every 1,000 kg of yeast, soybeans, and dairy cows cultured or raised for 24 hours can increase protein by 2,000 kg, 10 kg, and 1 kg respectively." Academician Chen Jian said that if fungal protein replaces 20% of global beef consumption by 2050, it will reduce 56% of deforestation and carbon emissions each year.

In recent years, the Chinese government has also vigorously supported the development of the alternative protein industry and introduced relevant support policies.

The "14th Five - Year Plan" National Agricultural and Rural Science and Technology Development Plan proposes to study the cultivation and manufacturing technology of nutritious foods such as cell cultured meat, synthetic egg cream, and functional recombinant proteins in breaking through major scientific and technological issues in key areas of agriculture and rural areas.

The "14th Five - Year Plan for Bioeconomic Development" clearly states that promoting the development of bioeconomics is an important direction to adapt to the trend of accelerated evolution of global biotechnology and achieve high - level scientific and technological self - reliance. It proposes to explore and develop new foods such as "artificial protein", realize iterative upgrading of the food industry, and reduce the environmental resource pressure brought by traditional aquaculture.

"Alternative protein" includes animal cell protein, plant protein, microbial protein, algae protein and insect protein. Insect protein is a new type of protein resource provided by insect larvae or adults, and its source is very wide. It has the characteristics of high nutritional value and good taste, and has broad application prospects in food, feed, cosmetics and other fields.

Compared with traditional livestock and poultry and aquaculture, farmed insects have the characteristics of small land occupation, high production efficiency, less natural resources consumption, less environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, insect protein is a sustainable protein resource that can replace soybean meal and fish meal required by the aquaculture industry and reduce dependence on imports; at the same time, as a direct edible insect protein, it is the fifth source of edible protein after meat, eggs, milk and beans. In the past few years, the insect protein industry and market have grown rapidly and are expected to continue to maintain a high growth momentum.

At present, in addition to silkworms, bees, and tussah silkworms, newly developed insect resources include yellow mealworms, black mealworms, barley worms (large black beetles), black soldier flies, white - star flower beetles, bean moths, locusts, grasshoppers, etc. Among them, yellow mealworms, black mealworms, barley worms, Chinese true earthworms (earthworms), American cockroaches, East Asian migratory locusts, black soldier flies, white - star flower beetles, etc. have achieved large - scale artificial breeding.

My country has a history of eating insects for thousands of years. The ancient book "Zhou Ji" records that people in the pre - Qin period made ant eggs into sauce as a delicacy. Today, locusts, cicadas, silkworm pupae, etc. are also favorite delicacies of many Chinese people. From a global perspective, there is a habit of eating insects in South Asia, Africa, Latin America and other places. The European Union passed legislation in 2021 to include insects in the list of human food, using legal norms to support the development of the insect industry.

However, as an emerging industry, insect farming needs to break through many technical bottlenecks; for insect food to truly enter the homes of ordinary people, people need to overcome more than just psychological barriers. Therefore, we believe that it is necessary to empower the "government, industry, academia, and research" to gradually improve industry laws and regulations, accelerate the breakthrough of key common technologies, deepen basic research on food safety, strengthen food process technology development, increase the intensity of technical talent training, and pay attention to public opinion propaganda and popular science education, so as to truly promote the edible insect industry to "take root and blossom" and achieve the "fruits" of high - quality development.

We believe that in the next few years, insect protein will become the fifth source of human edible protein after meat, eggs, milk, and beans. "Accelerating the transition of mankind to sustainable edible protein" is the vision and mission of BioSource.

[1] Yan Li. Spring has arrived for the alternative protein industry [N]. Consumer Daily, 2024 - 05 - 29 (A04). DOI:10.28866/n.cnki.nxfrb.2024.000630.

[2] Yu Fangyong, Xu Xiaofeng. Research progress on reducing soybean meal in livestock and poultry diets [J]. China Dairy, 2024, (04): 5 - 9. DOI: 10.19305/j.cnki.11 - 3009/s.2024.04.002.

[3] Song Peiju, Zhao Shuang, He Qing, et al. Nutritional functional characteristics of insects and their application in the food industry [J]. Meat Industry, 2022, (09): 48 - 52.

[4] Gou Mengxing, Wang Lan, Zhai Jiangyang, et al. Research status of functional characteristics and application of insect protein [J]. Meat Industry, 2022, (04): 49 - 53.

[5] Liu Yusheng. Ecological utilization and prospects of resource insects [M]. Beijing: Longmen Bookstore, 2024: 4.