Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/19
Outputs Target Audience:Due to the fact that All Things Bugs, LLC has been buying crickets from farmers for its powder production, it has a strong working relationship with many in the industry. This has given us a substantial advantage in discussing our equipment and feed direct with farmers. As the industry grows, we will look to create distributor relationships, but we have targeted primarily farmers to date. Additionally, All Things Bugs LLC is planning to establish its own insect farm to augment supply of insects for its products as well as serve as a testing ground for its insect farming and other innovations. Changes/Problems:We did not experienced any significant problems or set-backs on this project. Our results and progress have exceeded expectations. What's more, we were able to do more for this project than originally anticipated. Thus, this Phase II project's original goals were completed well within budget, ahead of schedule and with additional results and successes. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Yes, at conferences. Nothing proprietary was presented, only general descriptions of our progress. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts What was accomplished under these goals?
1) We made substantial discoveries and collected data on the nutritional needs of crickets and the impact various nutrients (such as fiber) make in the diets of crickets. 2) We discovered that cold quickly immobilizes crickets, which is good for our planned cricket harvester/freezer design (once they hit cold air they will not escape). 3) Crickets will drink water from above, from droplets and from absorbent material. This could be an advantage for delivering water to crickets efficiently in a less labor intensive way. It may also allow the water sources for the crickets to remain cleaner as they will deposit less waste on water sources above them than below. 4) The vibrational forces of shakers/sifters has a stunning effect on crickets and immobilizes them at least partially. This will help keep them from escaping from the planned cricket harvester/freezer system. 5) various absorbent materials such as stone, ceramic, etc. work well to deliver water to crickets from above or below. Crickets can drink sufficient water from these. These can be used to wick water to the crickets. 6) Shaking/sifting is an effective way to remove waste from crickets before freezing. 7) Combining waste removal and freezing into one system will make cricket harvesting much more efficient. 8) We have completed the creation of prototypes for the cricket harverter andthe feed formulation.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
Morales-Ramos JA, Rojas MG, Dossey AT, Berhow M (2020) Self-selection of food ingredients and agricultural by-products by the house cricket, Acheta domesticus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae): A holistic approach to develop optimized diets. PLoS ONE 15(1): e0227400. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227400
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Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs Target Audience:The primary audience for this project is the food and agricultural industries - particularly food and food ingredient companies but really any commercial operation interested in cleaner more sustainable protein sources. The insect-based food ingredients (powders, pastes or liquids) produced by All Things Bugs LLC have a very wide range of commercial applications in the human food, animal/pet feed and nutraceutical industries. Products utilizing these ingredients might include: fortified dry goods, fortified protein supplement powders, high protein fortified porridges and cereals, "meat" substitutes, chitosan (nutraceutical derived from chitin), high protein beverages, protein fortified bars and powders for athletes as well as numerous types of snack foods. Though we are primarily seeking to reach potential customers in the food industry, our project and company successes will also depend on reaching a wider audience through various means. To achieve our goals, both for this USDA SBIR project and for the company as a whole, we targeted and successfully reached the following audiences and stake holders: Industry audience: Food companies Ingredient Distributors Nutrient supplement and nutracetuical companies Company interested in more sustainable protein sources Agricultural Audience: Current and prospective cricket, mealworm, grasshopper and other insect farmers Small farmers Organic Farmers Urban Farmers Farming Innovators and Entrepreneurs Farmers seeking new alternative crops/livestock Consumer audience: Consumers interested in environmentally friendly food sources People interested in healthier sources of protein Athletes Body Builders People with allergies to other protein sources such as soy, dairy, gluten, peanut, etc. Audience for Educational Mission: Press and media Universities (especially Entomology, Agriculture and Food Science departments for curriculum and career development) Organizations promoting sustainability, urban farming, urban agriculture, etc. Government agencies in the US ( FDA , USDA , DARPA , NASA , Department of Defense , GRAS certification , Generally Rearded as Safe , etc.) Governments world-wide (governments in developing nations, etc.) Scientific organizations (interested in food, agriculture, health, chemistry, nutrition and/or sustainability such as: Institute of Food Technologists, Entomological Society of America Future thinkers, bloggers and thought leaders interested in sustainability, food and health Media: National Media ( CNN , Wallstreet Journal , New York Times , Washington Post , etc. ) Social Media Academic Publications Newspapers (Forbes, Fortune, Huffington Post, etc.) Food News Web Sites Blogs Food Industry Media Outlets (Food Navigator, Natural Products Insider, Institute of Food Technologists, etc.) Book Publishers: Springer, Elsevier, Wiley, University publishers, others. Changes/Problems:Problems Encountered We have not experienced any significant problems or set-backs on this project. Our results and progress have exceeded expectations to date and things are going very well. In fact, we are ahead of schedule so much that we are submitting this report early so that we can access the second year's funds soon and proceed with building our Phase II cricket harvester model which was originally planned for Year 2. Thus, our only limitation on a very successful project is currently being able to access the second year's portion of the grant funds. What's more, we believe we will be able to do more for this project than originally anticipated. Thus, we estimate this Phase II project's original goals will be completed well within budget, ahead of schedule and with additional results and successes. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?None. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Yes, at conferences. Nothing proprietary was presented, only general descriptions of our progress. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1) Complete the Phase II cricket harvester/freezer system. This system will include a substanial amount of our intellectual property and input, and will have to be built from scratch as there are not sufficient systems or machines commercially available for use with crickets. 2) We will evaluate numerous natural products and agricultural byproducts in self-selection studies to determine the nutritional and food preferences of crickets when given various ingredient choices. Data from those tests will be used to produce formulated diets that will be provided to crickets and compared with commercially available cricket feed controls.
Impacts What was accomplished under these goals?
As of the end of 2017 (as I belive this is the mid-project progress reportr for REEport): 1) We made substantial discoveries and collected data on the nutritional needs of crickets and the impact various nutrients (such as fiber) make in the diets of crickets. 2) We discovered that cold are quickly immobilizes crickets, which is good for our planned cricket harvester/freezer design (once they hit cold air they will not escape). 3) Crickets will drink water from above, from droplets and from absorbent material. This could be an advantage for delivering water to crickets efficiently in a less labor intensive way. It may also allow the water sources for the crickets to remain cleaner as they will deposit less waste on water sources above them than below. 4) The vibrational forces of shakers/sifters has a stunning effect on crickets and immobilizes them at least partially. This will help keep them from escaping from the planned cricket harvester/freezer system. 5) various absorbent materials such as stone, ceramic, etc. work well to deliver water to crickets from above or below. Crickets can drink sufficient water from these. These can be used to wick water to the crickets. 6) Shaking/sifting is an effective way to remove waste from crickets before freezing. 7) Combining waste removal and freezing into one system will make cricket harvesting much more efficient.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting & Food Expo; July 25-28, 2017; Sands Expo Center, Las Vegas, NV, USA; Speaker; Title: A Vision for the Insect Based Food Industry: Perspective of a Scientist Entrepreneur and Research From Farm to Table, Including Processing; in the symposium titled Challenges in the Edible Insect-Based Food Industry: Farm to Fork, Part 1; Dr. Aaron T. Dossey. Room: Bellini 2105 6/28/2017, 9:35 am 9:55 pm.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Institute of Food Technologists Oklahoma (IFT-OK); IFT Student Association (IFTSA); at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) campus (Edmond, OK, USA); Food Science Symposium 2017; April 28, 2017; Keynote speaker; Developing Insects for Food, Feed, Pharma and Other Valuable Applications; Aaron T. Dossey. PRESS release: The Future of Food Science The Bees Knees?.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
BugFest; North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences; Raleigh, NC, USA; September 16, 2017; 3:00 PM Speaker; Title: Developing Insects for Food, Feed, Pharma and Other Valuable Applications; Company Booth/Kiosk (All Things Bugs LLC / GrioPro protein); Dr. Aaron T. Dossey
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Morales-Ramos, J. A., M. G. Rojas, and A. T. Dossey. Age-dependent Food utilization in small groups of Acheta domesticus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) at two temperatures. Symposium: Insects: Its whats for Dinner! Entomological Society of America Annual meeting, Denver, Colorado, November 5-8, 2017.
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