Influence of diet on the environmental impacts of cricket powder production

To meet the required protein intake in human nutrition, it is imperative to explore alternatives to the existing products. The use of insects is an alternative source of protein. This study aims to assess the influence of the diet on the environmental impacts of Acheta domesticus powder. Eight diet scenarios have been studied, consisting of the combination of four feeds and two watering systems. Three functional units (FUs) have been considered: mass (1 kg of packed cricket powder), protein (1 kg of protein in packed cricket powder), and economic (1 USD earned per mass of packed cricket powder). The system boundaries were set “from the cradle to the processing gate”. Primary data on the diet rearing scenarios were obtained from an experiment conducted at the lab scale with three replications. Foreground data were primary data obtained from the company, and background data were secondary data from databases and literature. Environmental Footprint 3.1 was used to calculate both midpoint and aggregated impact indicators. The Feed Conversion Ratio (FCR), the powder protein content, and the cost vary depending on the diet scenario. The watering system influences FCR, and no relationship is observed between the protein content of the diet and that of powder. Midpoint impact scores vary depending on the scenario. In the case of climate change, the lowest and highest scores per kilogram of packed cricket powder were 12.26 kg CO 2 eq. and 24.47 kg CO 2 eq., respectively. Feed production is the main source of impacts across most impact categories, with contributions ranging from 9.99% in Ruf to 99.32% in LU, though these vary by scenario. When calculating the aggregated EF 3.1, regardless of the FU, the lowest and highest scores are the same. The results show that diets with low FCR, high powder protein content, and low overall cost yield better environmental scores, highlighting that diet formulation is crucial for reducing the environmental impacts of insect rearing. • Diets with a low feed conversion ratio show a better environmental performance • Diets related to high flour protein content have better environmental scores • Low overall cost diets present better environmental impacts • Feed production is the main source of environmental impacts • Diet formulation is crucial to reduce the environmental impacts of insect rearing