THE POWER OF METALCORE; Iron Biofortification of Black Soldier Fly Larvae as an enhanced micronutrient source

Iron deficiency remains the most prevalent micronutrient disorder globally, yet no sustainable source of highly bioavailable dietary iron currently exists. Edible insects store iron as entoferritin, a secreted, water-soluble ferritin unique to insects, which may enable absorption via endocytic pathways independent of classical inhibitors. Despite this, entoferritin has remained largely unstudied as a dietary iron source, particularly in Hermetia illucens (black soldier fly; BSF).
This thesis demonstrates that dietary iron supplementation increases BSF larval iron content by over 300% without compromising yield or survival. Transcriptomic, proteomic, and histological analyses strongly suggest that accumulated iron remains entoferritin-based even under high fortification, localised to the midgut epithelium through post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. In vitro digestion assays show that despite reduced fractional bioaccessibility, biofortified larvae deliver significantly greater absolute quantities of soluble iron compared to controls.
These findings position iron-biofortified BSF larvae as a promising novel iron source for animal feed, with potential for future application in human food.

Tomer first,

the candidate of the PhD defence "THE POWER OF METALCORE; Iron Biofortification of Black Soldier Fly Larvae as an enhanced micronutrient source".