Advantages of chitin
- Natural and local product abundant in nature
- Natural alternative to bio-pesticides
- Bio-active molecules
- Positive health impact for people and animals
- Tailored to fit the application
- Re-use of other highly divergent organic by-products
Why use insects as a source of chitin?
Insects can play a key role in the transition to a biobased economy. They are known as a source of protein and as a biomass they offer several advantages, including:
- showing fast growth
- needing much less space and water than other animals
- consuming a wide range of by-products, increasing their sustainability
- more efficient conversion of feed into biomass than other animals
Fractionation
Insect larvae consist of fats, proteins and chitin: three (from a human perspective) useful substances which, before they can be used, first need to be separated and cleaned up – or ‘fractionated’. By fractioning the insect larvae, VITO creates a more interesting alternative fat and protein ingredient as well as high value chitin.
Pilot-scale production of high-value chitin derivates as a stepping stone to industrial production
In recent years, we have built up considerable expertise in growing and processing insects together with KU Leuven - Campus Geel, Thomas More Kempen. This expertise has led to the construction of a research and pilot infrastructure for breeding, harvesting and processing insects. Here we can support companies interested in the valorisation of by-products through larvae growth.
The VITO pilot enables:
- Production of large amounts in order to develop proof of concept
- A large range of customisation. For example, by modifying the by-products fed to the larvae, changing the source of the chitin, or altering the bio-refinery, the bioactive properties of the chitin are tailored to specific applications
- To extract and purify chitin from different sources.
- To tailor the chitin molecules by conversion into different chitosan (oligos)
- Production of larger chitin/chitosan amounts to use in application trials
The VITO pilot consists of various technical equipment that can be connected in a plug-and-play mode as required. Resulting in flexible research infrastructure that provides an answer to the questions of companies and researchers.