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On the nitrogen content and a robust nitrogen-to-protein conversion factor of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens)

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A Publisher Correction to this article was published on 28 August 2021

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Abstract

Currently, a broad discussion exists in the literature regarding insect protein analysis. At its core, main difficulties and uncertainties are the inconsistent use of analysis methods and nitrogen-to-protein conversion (kP) factors. While the Kjeldahl and Dumas methods are both used in the literature, their result represents inherently different nitrogen fractions. Thus far, no correlation between them is established for insect matrices, which is a major uncertainty. Although much effort has been made towards more accurate kP factors, calculation of these was based on merely one sample while the chemical composition varies depending on rearing conditions. Using a broad variation in black soldier fly (BSF) larvae samples in the present study, a correlation between Kjeldahl and Dumas and a robust kP factor have been established. Moreover, the nitrogen distribution of BSF samples was also assessed after accurate chitin analyses. A highly significant linear correlation existed between the results of Kjeldahl and Dumas (slope, 1.009; intercept, − 0.008; R2, 0.9997). Consequently, both methods were deemed interchangeable for BSF larvae. Using amino acid data, a practical, more accurate and robust kP factor of 4.43 was obtained. Concerning the chitin content, the average of all BSF larvae samples was 5.95 ± 0.86 g N-acetylglucosamine/100 g dry matter and no correlation with the kP factor was observed. Regarding the nitrogen distribution of the samples, it was found that the contribution of nitrogenous compounds other than protein and chitin is not only high but also prone to variation (12–30% of the total nitrogen content).

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Acknowledgements

The larvae samples used for this research were kindly collected by Dr. Enya Wynants as part of the EDINCO project, funded by the Belgian Federal Public Service of Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment (contract RT 15/9 EDINCO). Special thanks go to Y. Smets and R. Huysmans for their contribution to the experimental work. The authors also want to thank Prof. Peter Goos for his assistance regarding the statistical analysis of the data.

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  1. Faculty of Engineering Technology, Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems, KU Leuven, Kleinhoefstraat 4, 2440, Geel, Belgium

    Ruben Smets, Johan Claes & Mik Van Der Borght

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Correspondence to Mik Van Der Borght.

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The original online version of this article was revised: Unfortunately, during production the typesetter mistakenly included an error regarding the standard deviations smaller than 1 of the results in Table 2.

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Smets, R., Claes, J. & Van Der Borght, M. On the nitrogen content and a robust nitrogen-to-protein conversion factor of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens). Anal Bioanal Chem 413, 6365–6377 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-021-03595-y

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