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Daniel Murta and Rui Nunes are the names behind Entogreen! Entogreen is a brand of the company Ingredient Odyssey (IO) and uses food by-products to produce animal feed and organic fertilizer, from the production of insects, more specifically the Black Soldier Fly (BSF). They are promoters of projects that respect the principles of Circular Economy! Do you want to know more about Entogreen? Fly with us inside this project!
Entogreen is born… … from Daniel and Rui’s prevision about the potential of insects usage. Their initial views were different as to the purpose to be given to the production of insects. For Daniel, the production of insects would be for use as a “protein source of the future” and for Rui, its purpose would be for use as an effluent bioremediation agent. Entogreen is born when the two enter into an understanding, managing to reconcile their goals in one. Daniel’s and Rui’s distinct training and experience enabled the creation of Ingredient Odyssey, a company that includes the Entogreen brand. Entogreen… … uses the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) as a key tool throughout its process, managing to use the vegetable agricultural by-products (1 million tonnes of food per year are wasted in Portugal) in BSF protein and oil, returning value to these by-products and introducing them again, in the value chain as raw material for animal feed. At the same time, they produce a fully matured organic fertilizer, with field tests and excellent results. Entogreen works to close cycles in food production processes, thus respecting the principles on which Circular Economy is based. “We were able to return nutrients to the value chains, in animal and vegetable nutrition, transforming a problem that is food waste into value-added products in the economy, such as organic fertilizer, protein concentrate and insect oil for animal nutrition.” The Entogreen team consists of… … Daniel Murta who has a degree in Veterinary Medicine and a PhD from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Technical University of Lisbon. He teaches at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Lusophone University of Humanities and Technologies and has experience in guiding master students and leading R&D projects. Daniel started a partnership with INIAV (National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research) in order to dedicate himself initially to the production of Tenebrio molitor for human consumption and, later, to research and develop projects in the production area of BSF (Hermetia illucens), by using their larvae in organic by-products for animal feed and plant nutrition. Daniel is the leader of a project (ENTOVALOR-POCI-01-0247-FEDER-017675) whose objective is to close food cycles that produce waste, reusing and returning nutrients to plants and animals. He collaborates with the European Commission within the Focal Group to discuss New Nutritional Sources for Chickens and Pigs, where he hopes to contribute to legal and political changes that favour the production and use of insects in the feeding of these species, and with DGAV in preparation of the Code of Good Practices in the Production of Insects for Animal Feed, published in September 2018. Rui Nunes is also part of the Entogreen team and has a degree in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Coimbra. He uses its knowledge in chemistry to eliminate waste and reuse nutritional elements along the food supply chains, thus working in an integration perspective of circular economy principles. He dedicates himself 100% to the development of the project that he considers to be “one of his great personal projects”, namely in the management of the insect production process and the company’s bioconversion methods. According to Rui, “research and development is at the origin of IO and has been the engine for the establishment of new methodologies and products”. Entogreen is concerned with the sustainability of food systems… … as its main concern is the use of food waste for the production of innovative and safe sources of protein and nitrogen for animal consumption and plant use. The use of insects as a protein source can also make food systems more sustainable because they can be alternatives to less sustainable protein sources such as soybeans that need arable land for their cultivation, thus bringing consequences to the Planet such as deforestation and loss of biodiversity and fish that is in depletion in the sea. In order to respond to the dietary needs ahead, in order to circumvent problems such as the high population growth on the Planet and the increase in the consumption of meat and fish, Entogreen transforms food waste into protein, oil for animal nutrition and soil nutrition and plants using insects. The disbelief in the possible use of insects as sources of animal feed… … was one of the biggest difficulties that Entogreen faced. But they managed to overcome it by carrying out projects on a pilot scale together with companies, “transforming some unbelievers and opponents into defenders and disseminators of the concept". The use of insects as an animal protein source is not yet understood by the general population, with ignorance and fear of integrating insects in the diets of animals they produce. “It is more strange for a European chicken to eat soy than to eat insects. It is not the insect that is foreign to animal nutrition. ” A major challenge facing them at the moment is the difficulty in moving from the pilot scale to the industrial scale, which would make their work much easier, since the industrialization of the process could reduce costs and make the whole process more efficient. Insect-based protein production requires… … the use of biorefineries with a specific size and location. The investment for its construction and maintenance is high and there are few companies producing insects, which hinders its industrialization process. According to Rui, the value that biorefineries generate can be explained as follows, “if a potato in a state of decomposition goes to a landfill, it only releases greenhouse gases such as methane and CO2 into the atmosphere, if it goes to a composting produces CO2 and fertilizer, but if it goes to a biorefinery it is transformed into protein and fat through the action of the BSF larvae and also into an organic fertilizer in less time than the previous processes”. The circular economy and sustainability… … walk together. For food industry to be sustainable, it also has to generate income and, nothing like reassigning value to products along the food supply chains, to generate higher yields and lower costs. Therefore, the circular economy and the generation of value along the food supply chain, not only makes food systems more environmentally sustainable, but also brings sustainability at an economic and food level. Get to know more Entogreen in: Website EntoGreen: www.entogreen.org/pt/ Website Entovalor: www.entogreen.org/pt/entovalor Facebook: @entogreen Instagram: @entogreen Videos:www.youtube.com/channel/UCsdZbKV_EiRzyPzQxXuHu_w/videos
Entogreen: Insects for animal feed and soil fertilizer
