Developments for the production of meat and bakery products from insect protein will become available to Russians in the coming years, Andrey Zyuzin, managing partner of the Fuel for Growth venture fund, a member of the FoodNet roadmap working group of the National Technology Initiative (NTI), said on 22 March.
According to him, such products will appear in Russia in the next 10 years.
“For example, vegetable and cellular meat or baked goods made from insect protein,” RIA Novosti quotes him.
At present, insects are used mainly as food for animals and fish in large-scale industries.
“Nevertheless, some companies are already planning to launch in the country the production of pasta, flour and baked goods with the addition of protein from the larvae of the Black Lion fly,” the specialist added.
As he recalled, insect products are now consumed mainly by residents of China, Thailand, India and Mexico. Insect protein is known for its immunomodulatory and hypoallergenic properties.
The trend of the next decade will be food from a 3D printer. According to the NTI roadmap, by 2028 Russians will be able to independently produce their own food on such a device.
“It is possible that by 2030 Russia will have systems that allow residents of megacities to skip meals. For example, in the United States, a patch for snacking is already being developed, which, using a patch with a chip, will supply nutrients to the human body, ”concluded Zyuzin.
As Gazeta.ru reported, Russians should start looking at food made from insects, since all kinds of beetles and larvae are rich in nutrients and eating them can alleviate food shortages in the world, said Julia Muir, an expert at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. She said that around 2 billion people around the world already feed on insects. Insects contain a large amount of antioxidants and other beneficial substances that can successfully replace meat, becoming its useful counterpart.