WetPro¹⁵: a high-quality mealworm pulp for the wet pet food market

Sprÿng, powered by Ÿnsect, is proud to launch WetPro¹⁵, an innovative wet protein ingredient designed for the pet food market.

Combining nutritional excellence with a low environmental ‘pawprint’, WetPro¹⁵ serves as an ideal substitute for traditional animal-based proteins in pet food formulations.

Competing with traditional protein sources

The pet food industry faces the challenge of achieving ‘nutritional sustainability’: producing high-quality products while minimizing environmental impact.

In this context, Sprÿng highlights its new ingredient, WetPro¹⁵, a palatable wet pet food ingredient. WetPro¹⁵ is made from whole mealworms bred in biosecure insect farms in France and then blanched and ground. The pulp offers high protein content (15% in its current form, 60% when dry) and low fat (8% in its current form, 32% when dry).

Mealworm protein stands out for its excellent digestibility and is competitive with high-quality traditional protein sources like lamb and beef. The in vitro and in vivo digestibilities of WetPro¹⁵ have been measured to be greater than 90%.

WetPro¹⁵ also features a beneficial fat profile. It not only contains less fat compared to meat ingredients, resulting in a higher protein-to-fat ratio, but also provides healthier fats.

Mealworms are a natural source of linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid, and oleic acid, a type of w-9 unsaturated fatty acid.

Achieving nutritional sustainability

Regarding environmental responsibility, mealworm larvae have a significantly reduced footprint compared to traditional protein sources. They require only 5-10% of the land and 10-20% of the water needed for lamb and beef production.

Life cycle analysis has shown the climate change impact of WetPro¹⁵ to be 0.8 kg CO2-eq/kg, comparable to chicken mechanically deboned meat (MDM), and substantially lower than that of lamb MDM and pure meats.

Smooth transition for manufacturers

Using WetPro¹⁵ as an ingredient in pet food offers great nutritional sustainability. However, it is important to consider the modifications pet food manufacturers might need to make to their current recipes.

Luckily, the binding properties and consistency of WetPro¹⁵ closely match those of existing ingredients, ensuring a smooth transition for manufacturers.

Tests compared a standard pet food pâté made with 50% chicken MDM to pâtés where some of the chicken MDM was replaced with WetPro¹⁵ at concentrations of 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%.

In each case, the pâtés containing WetPro¹⁵ demonstrated excellent binding properties, with a slightly more homogeneous, compact and softer texture compared to the reference pâté. These characteristics help optimize production and reduce waste.

All test pâtés maintained the same crude protein content as those made with chicken MDM, while the fat content decreased significantly with higher proportions of WetPro¹⁵.

This makes WetPro¹⁵ a strong candidate for weight management formulations.

Minimal adjustments

Its high-protein, low-fat profile makes it an ideal ingredient for wet pet food formulas. The low-fat content enables pet food manufacturers to add essential fatty acids, for example for kittens and puppies.

Additionally, as a novel protein source, WetPro¹⁵ could serve as the basis for a hypoallergenic diet.

In conclusion, WetPro¹⁵ offers pet food manufacturers a versatile, premium ingredient with a low environmental impact. By incorporating WetPro¹⁵ into their formulations, manufacturers can enhance their product offerings with minimal adjustments to their existing processes.