Fat
Soldier fly fat is extracted through a degreasing process from dried larvae whereby the lipid component is separated from the protein component.
BSF fat is rich in lauric acid, or dodecanoic acid, which makes it valuable to the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and animal feed industries because of its antibacterial, soothing and highly digestible properties.
Composition and organoleptic properties
The composition of soldier fly fat is similar to that of coconut and palm oil:
it consists of 60-70% medium- and long-chain saturated fatty acids ( first and foremost, lauric acid, followed by palmitic and myristic acids) and smaller percentages of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated (oleic and linoleic) fatty acids.
If not bleached, it is bright yellow, and has a natural scent similar to that of hazelnuts and cocoa.
Soybean oil replacement
The production of soybean oil for use in animal feed has an adverse environmental impact due to import distances – it is mainly produced in Brazil, Argentina and the USA – and the deforestation of large areas of South America, where it is extracted intensively.
Soldier fly fat is already used as a replacement for soybean oil in the feeds of various farm animals, such as chickens, pigs and fish: it has been shown, in fact, that it does not to affect growth performance, and BEF Biosystems itself is conducting tests to integrate it into pig feed.
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