2022

Expanding the value chain – biological extraction of chitosan for insect-based waste bioconversion

Funding source: Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)

Project description: This study will provide a better insight into possibilities to convert chitin from insect biomass into value-added products. Through this green process, a commercially viable alternative source of chitin will be established and further contribute to overcome the challenges related to food and feed security.

Check out our project partners at Sabine Gruber’s working group ChisMeT in Vienna.


2022

Towards decrypting the semiochemical communication between microbes and black soldier flies involved in oviposition

Funding source: Austrian Science Fund (FWF) | Grant link

Project description: The project aims to identify chemical messengers produced by microorganisms that positively influence the egg-laying behaviour of the black soldier fly and to explore their applicability in breeding the fly. We combine egg-laying experiments with semiochemical, microbiological, genetic and genomic analyses to produce a highly attractive attractant.


2021

Decrypting the microbial community on the egg surface of black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens, L.) and its origin

Funding source: Early Stage Funding (University of Innsbruck)

Project description: Within this project, we want to explore the origin of the black soldier fly’s egg surface microbiota to I) deduce the composition of microbial communities crucial for larval development and II) search for microbe-based cues that could be relevant for black soldier fly oviposition. By using high-throughput marker-gene sequencing, we will characterize microbial communities present in various developmental stages of the fly.


2021

Frass for gas: pre-treatment of industrial insect breeding residues for anaerobic digestion

Funding source: Early Stage Funding (University of Innsbruck)

Project description: The goal of this project is to I) assess the suitability of black soldier fly frass as co-substrate during the anaerobic digestion of cattle slurry and II) to determine whether different substrate pre-treatments prior to larval bioconversion can improve the biomethanization of frass. Cattle slurry is a widespread agricultural waste product frequently used in biogas plants. A consortium of interdependent microorganism species converts complex molecules under anaerobic conditions to mainly methane, carbon dixode, and hydrogen sulfide - commonly referred to as biogas.


2020-2021

Breeding and biotechnology for insect farming

Funding source: Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG)

Project description: In this industrial cooperation, we delve into methods for substrate pre-treatment and assess their impact on substrate and larval microbiota. In contrast to the majority of black soldier fly experiments, these studies will be conducted at industrial scale - providing new opportunities but also posing new challanges.


2020-2021

Co-housing effect on the microbiome of the black soldier fly larvae

Funding source: Tiroler Wissenschaftsförderung (TWF)

Project description: Within this project, we want to follow up on our citizen science project by focussing on the substrate and larval microbiomes brought forward by the citizen scientist’s home experiments. Every consumer creates a specific pattern of organic wastes that reflects their dietary habits and provides the nutrient source for a broad range of microorganisms. Additionally, environmental factors varying between various households can have an impact on the microbial communities.


2018-2019

Six-legged livestock: rearing black soldier fly on biowaste

Funding source: Austrian Science Fund (FWF) | Grant link

Project description: In this citizen science project, we conceptualized insect rearing workshops for both schools and a public audience. Within these workshops, participants built their own black soldier fly rearing system and conducted a three-week feeding experiment at home. Two-hundred larvae were fed with daily accumulating kitchen wastes and food leftovers, and their growth progress was documented using an enclosed precision scale.

Publications:

  • Walter and Klammsteiner et al. (2020): Black soldier fly school workshops as means to promote circular economy and environmental awareness. Sustainability, 12(20), 19574.
    DOI | PDF

  • Klammsteiner et al. (2020): On everyone’s lips: insects for food and feed. Proceedings of Science - PoS(ACSC2019), 366.
    DOI | PDF


2014-2018

From waste to feed: waste products as a source of protein-rich feedstuff

Funding source: Austrian Science Fund (FWF) | Grant link

Project description: The aim of this project was to establish a black soldier fly laboratory population at the Department of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck. Subsequently, various experiments to improve small-scale rearing were conducted. Particular focus was put on dietary treatments for larvae and their impact on the gut microbiome as well as finding optimal light sources for adult mating and oviposition.

Publications:

  • Klammsteiner et al. (2021): Impact of processed food (canteen and oil wastes) on the development of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae and their gut microbiome functions. Front Microbiol, 12, 619112.
    DOI | PDF

  • Klammsteiner et al. (2020): Suitability of black soldier fly frass as soil amendment and implication for organic waste hygienization. Agronomy, 10(10), 1578.
    DOI | PDF

  • Klammsteiner et al. (2020): The core gut microbiome of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) raised on low-bioburden diets. Front Microbiol, 11, 993.
    DOI | PDF

  • Heussler et al. (2018): Influence of three artificial light sources on oviposition and half-life of the black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae): Improving small-scale indoor rearing. PLOS ONE, 13, e0197896.
    DOI | PDF