From Insect Byproduct to Farm Input: How InnoProtein Is Closing the Loop in Agriculture

From Insect Byproduct to Farm Input: How InnoProtein Is Closing the Loop in Agriculture

InnoProtein has previously focused on creating high-quality protein from insects, particularly the black soldier fly. But what if byproducts of raising insects could also help grow better crops? This full-circle approach is exactly what InnoProtein aims to accomplish; not just nutritious proteins from undervalued resources, but a process where nothing goes to waste.  

After insect-protein cultivation, two materials are left behind: chitosan, a natural polymer extracted from the insects’ hard outer shells, and frass, the nutrient-rich rearing residue, essentially an insect compost1. Rather than simply disposing of these byproducts as waste, the project has explored whether they could be transformed into effective plant spray and solid soil fertilizer. 

The Biostimulant: A Spray Made from Insect Shells 

Chitosan is already known in agriculture as a biostimulant, meaning a substance applied to plants to help them grow more efficiently, handle stress better, and improve overall crop quality23. InnoProtein researchers used excess Chitosan, combined with copper nanoparticles, to create a fine spray for direct application onto lettuce leaves.  

Several versions were developed with varying chitosan concentrations and were tested on greenhouse lettuce at different dilution rates. One formulation clearly outperformed the others, with treated lettuce growing significantly heavier than untreated plants. 

Taking It to the Field 

With the best formula identified, the team moved to a field trial on tomatoes in southern Italy, also testing the spray’s ability to protect against late blight (a devastating disease that can wreak havoc on potato and tomato crops). The results were mixed but meaningful. The spray didn’t significantly reduce disease levels, suggesting it’s not a disease-control product on its own. However, treated plants showed noticeably better flowering and fruit set early in the season, leading to more fruits per plant and a slightly higher overall yield; more plentiful, without being worse in quality. This positions the formulation more as a growth promoter than a pesticide. 

Biofertilizer: Making Use of Insect Compost 

Frass was also put through its own trials as a soil additive. It has a strong nutritional profile containing the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium that plants need4. The research question was simply how much to use. Lettuce was grown with varying amounts of frass in both a climate-controlled chamber and a greenhouse. Across both settings, an optimal dose of 1.5 grams consistently produced the best results. Plants showed stronger growth and reached maturity earlier than untreated controls. 

The Big Picture 

Both products fit a circular economy model: waste from one process becomes a resource for another. Insect rearing produces protein for food and feed; the shells and residues are converted into agricultural inputs that could reduce dependence on synthetic fertilizers and conventional treatments. 

The results are preliminary, and further trials will be needed before these products reach farmers. But the early data make a compelling case that insect-derived biostimulants and biofertilizers are worth pursuing seriously. 

References

  1. 1 Muxika, A., Etxabide, A., Uranga, J., Guerrero, P., & De La Caba, K. (2017). Chitosan as a 
    bioactive polymer: Processing, properties and applications. International Journal of 
    Biological Macromolecules, 105(Pt 2), 1358– 
    1368. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2017.07.087  ↩︎
  2. du Jardin, P. (2015). Plant biostimulants: Definition, concept, main categories and regulation. Scientia Horticulturae, 196, 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2015.09.021  ↩︎
  3.  Román-Doval, R., Torres-Arellanes, S. P., Tenorio-Barajas, A. Y., Gómez-Sánchez, A., & 
    Valencia-Lazcano, A. A. (2023). Chitosan: Properties and its application in agriculture 
    in context of molecular weight. Polymers, 15(13), 
    2867. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15132867  ↩︎
  4. Amorim, H. C. S., Ashworth, A. J., Arsi, K., Rojas, M. G., Morales-Ramos, J. A., Donoghue, A., & Robinson, K. (2024). Insect frass composition and potential use as an organic fertilizer in circular economies. Journal of economic entomology, 117(4), 1261–1268. https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/toad234 ↩︎