## 1 Introduction  
The demand for animal proteins is estimated to increase due to the rapid growth in population and underlying socio-economic conditions [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Concomitantly, feeding livestock utilizing traditional feed ingredients has become challenging because of climate change and other factors or disruptions that are affecting agri-production systems [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Developments in alternative and sustainable sources of protein can aid in the mitigation of the risks associated with climate change on traditional agriculture [6, 7]. Recent years have seen an increase in research on the use of edible insects as a sustainable substitute for expensive sources of protein (e.g., soy meal, fish meal) in feed formulations and food ingredients for humans [5, 8, 9, 10]. Edible insects are characterized by their low environmental footprint compared with traditional sources of animal and plant proteins, due to their high feed conversion efficiency, fast growth rate, and high fertility [1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 12]. Some insect species, such as black soldier fly larvae (BSFL), are excellent in recycling organic matter from different food waste types, as reviewed in the literature [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12]. The production of alternative proteins by blending high nutrient density ingredients with a low environmental footprint is of interest, as they have the potential to reduce the environmental impact of various animal (e.g., meat, dairy) and crop production systems (e.g., cereals, horticulture) along whole processing and value chains [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12]. The evaluation of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) (_Hermetia illucens_) as sustainable sources of protein has been proposed by different focused research teams across the world [1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 12]. Overall, BSFL have been one of the preferred candidates as alternative sources of protein due to their ability to add value to a wide range of organic and food waste streams [1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 12]. The chemical and nutritional composition of BSFL reared on different organic waste sources is comparable to what is present in several conventional animal feed ingredients and agricultural by-products; however, its composition differs depending on the organic waste material, the growing conditions, and the morphological stage of the larvae. These steps meet most of the requirements of the circular economy by transforming waste into high-quality protein as well as other nutrients (e.g., lipids and fatty acids, chitin) [13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19]. The utilization of BSFL has also provided both a technology to efficiently process organic food waste sources as well as a practical alternative to manage different types of food and organic waste where different by-products can be obtained, such as protein, fatty acids, biodiesel, chitin, and biofertilizer (e.g., frass) [20; 21; 22; 23; 24; 25; 26; 27]. The inclusion of BSFL into organic food waste recycling systems has proven to be a cost-effective and sustainable process [20; 21; 22; 23; 24; 25; 26]. This process determines the possibility of resource recovery and generates valuable products, which consequently establishes a diverse range of economic opportunities for waste management sectors, the food industry, and entrepreneurs [25; 28; 29]. It is well recognized that the chemical composition and nutritive value of BSFL depends on the type of organic food waste involved. Different alternatives have been explored to increase the nutritional value of the larvae by combining different feeding substrates or even by completing some pre-processing of the waste streams as evaluated by different researchers [25; 28; 29]. Traditionally, the evaluation of the composition, nutritive value, and functional properties of BSFL have been achieved by the utilization of traditional methods of analysis, and most of them do not agree with the requirements of a circular economy due to their intrinsic characteristics (e.g., destructive, energy use, highly reactive reagents, chemical waste, etc.).