The Environment: Global Food Supply & Resources:

 

The Resources of our World are Not Infinite: Looking for Ways Out

 

by Prof.Dr.Dr. Randolph Riemschneider, B.Fel.

Berlin, Germany

 

[Editor’s Note: Whether welcome or not, so-called ‘Political Correctness’ has been a part of our lives in recent decades; today I would like to put forth the concept of what could be called ‘Cultural Correctness’. We all know that what is looked at as bizarre, even repulsive, in one culture can be quite normal in another. However, there are some practices under consideration that may well be considered ‘Culturally Incorrect’ in all cultures. Taking a deep breath and stepping forward onto the firing line, in the paper below Dr. Randolph Riemschneider puts forth a few of his most ‘Culturally Incorrect’ proposals for your consideration. – JP]

 

As strange as they may appear at first reading, the following titles are not made in jest but are actually serious considerations:

 

I)      Insect larvae for animal feeding – fly farms to produce R 78 [1]

II)    Fodder additive Y 2000 - yeast based [2]

III)   Solid P-containing fertilizer from urine [3]

IV)   Food stuff protection against rodents by initiated cannibalism [4,7]

 

In the year 2013, the practically uncontrollable growth in world population, the so-called Human Flood and the increase in human longevity-- welcome as it may be for individuals [5a]  -- in certain parts of the world require:

a)         careful managementof the resources recovered from agriculture, stock breeding and industry for humans and animals, including drinking water,

b)         to keep pollution of the environment to the minimum level possible.

 

Hitherto unexploited sources for nutrition including fertilization, energy recovery and other supplies must be tapped.

 

From 1939 to about 1950, careful management of resources was also a must, albeit for other reasons. Nobody cared about the environment. During the war and the post-war era, food for humans and animals was scarce in many countries. Efforts were made at the time to develop new sources, but only for a few years. Environmental consciousness grew slowly.

 

65 years ago, the author had started to show some ways in terms of resources and set out on these paths. However, his suggestions did not go down very well in Europe, as many people had quickly forgotten the lean times.

 

In the meantime, many things have changed. Moderation has been preached for many years, the use of alternative sources of energy has started -- unfortunately very late and not adequately, as explained by the author: Despite all warnings, 500 Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) -- without final deposit sites [5b] -- are still operating.

 

Back to the paths which the author had identified early on -- 60 years ago -- and walked to achieve an improvement in nutrition:

I) Animal fodder; II) Animal fodder additive; III) P- and N-containing fertilizer;

IV) Fight against rodents: Food stuff protection.

 

 

 

Ad I) Special animal feeding:

 

The growth in world population is forcing us to treat the available sources of food and feed with great care, e.g. not to use food resources for the production of animal feed. Here comes a proposal which has been developed to maturity and is being used: Animal Feed R 49 / R 78 made of insect larvae can replace fish-meal.

 

As stated in PartI[i] of "Re-Reading - 75 Years of Chemistry", the author, who had been assigned to RUHRÖL GmbH during World War II. had obtained permission from the management of the company to work on his dissertation in the company labs simultaneously to his regular duties. This sideline comprised two subjects considered from the author himself for promotion: a) lubricants[ii]b) insecticides[iii], both permitted by the management. In 1943, it was quite complicated to procure the necessary test insects for the orientation experiments, as catching flies or tracking a small number of corn weevils was not sufficient. So as to have a large number of flies at his disposal at all times without having to make the effort of breeding them, the author developed the flower pot process described in Chart 1, Section 3, in the Summer/Autumn of 1943 making use of observations he had made during his school years.

 

From these contact insecticide experiments the author derived -- in addition to the university lecturing qualification paperiii-- the idea of the "Development of an Insect Breeding Farm to Produce Animal Feed", carried out in 1944 and 1946-1949, described Jan 1950 in the "Mitt.Physiologchem.Institut Berlin” and in some lectures, given January at the Colloquium of RIEDELdeHAEN, Berlin-Britz, and in March 1950 at the Colloquium of Dr.WILMAR SCHWABE, Leipzig

Content in Chart 1 (translation), German original in Chart 3.

Chart 1: Insect larvae as protein sources in animal feed [1950][iv]

"These days, topics like the above are more pressing than ever. Both animal feed and food are scarce. Therefore, no substances should be used in the feed of meat-producing animals that could also serve as human food. One negative example is feed made of fish. This should always be kept in mind, not only in post-war times. After the experiments conducted by the author over four years, it was possible to replace the fish-meal used as animal feed with insect larvae. This idea was derived from the following experiments:

In connection with studying synthetic insecticides, the author was first faced with the problem of procuring test insects six years ago. Catching houseflies was sufficient for a few orientation experiments in the Summer/Autumn of 1943. The flowerpot method described below turned out to be useful to have the largest possible quantity of flies[v] at his disposal at all times without time-consuming breeding:

Several flowerpots were filled with saw dust and bits of bran and humidified. Then a piece of rat meat was placed on top to attract the flies to drop eggs and, later, to feed the maggots. The flowerpots were put outside. The maggots that lived in the saw dust for some time changed into pupae. These were collected, kept in a refrigerator and, when the temperature was right, supplied flies for orientating test experiments where a rough distinction was made between "effective" and "ineffective".

 

That was the immediate objective of these experiments. The ultimate objective derived from "feeding fly maggots with rat meat, i.e. a kind of scrap meat": Development of an insect farm for producing dried protein-rich insect larvae as animal feed. At the same time, abattoirs were relieved of waste.

 

As early as the last year of the war in Jena, and then right away from 1946 onwards in the gardens of the Schölzel family in Berlin-Falkensee, the author had the opportunity to build his first fly farm in cooperation with Elisabeth Schölzel and Karl Nikolaisen:

 

Cultivation of the flies in 15 cages. They were fed with a mixture of a) yeast scraps (Yeast Factory Elmshorn), b) bran from Feldmühle Bern (via Dr.Roos, Basle), c) waste from the dairy and cattle insemination station Rainer, Pfarrkirchen,  Lower Bavaria). Except for transport expenses, all of these ingredients were either free or very cheap. To still the thirst of the flies, waste sponges were distributed and kept humid (lots of water). Open water vessels turned out to be unsuitable, as too many flies drowned in them. Meat scraps from abattoirs encouraged flies to drop their eggs on special appliances. The hatched maggots were fed with blood left over from slaughtering. The main product - dried larvae - served as animal feed and pupated larvae for breeding more flies.

This animal feed, R 49, did not require any further treatment. The bred larvae killed by freeze drying are free of germs. Chickens and other useful animals have been eating flies and maggots since time untold without suffering any damages."

 

Nevertheless, experiments were carried out to confirm that R 49 was harmless.  Support came from RIEDEL de HAEN, Berlin-Britz, Doctors Schultze and Heymons and Director Dr.Boedecker (1948/50) with a positive result.

 

Unfortunately, it took the author until the end of the 1970s and even end of the 1980s to find people[vi]with a genuine interest in this project in Brazil, Argentina, and China [6].

 

In Brazil, the author built his second fly farm[vii] in 1976 on the fazenda of the President of UFSM, Professor Dr. José Mariano da Rocha Filho, Rio Grande do Sul, and the third one in 1977 in cooperation with Dr. Rodolfo Francesco Pesserl, BRASTONE, in Curitiba, PA, according to the models of 1947 and 1976 to produce the insect-based animal feed R 78 (= R 49). At the same time, experiments with the fodder additive Y 2000 (yeast-based)[viii] were conducted both in Rio Grande do Sul and in Paraná.

 

Field experiments with giving chickens a feed containing R 78 were conducted successfully on the fazenda of Professor Mariano da Rocha without any problems. In the experiments with Y 2000 on ruminants[ix]  carried out on the same fazenda, R 78 was also tested without any problems.

 

The utilization of both products: R 78 and Y 2000 was assigned by the author to Dr.Pesserl[x] for Brazil and Argentina (Dr.Pesserl coming from Argentina by birth) and, for China, to the HUA DA GROUP CORPORATION in Jinghai, Tianjin, P.R. of China[xi].

 

BRASTONE produced in cooperation with a local group quarterly up to half a ton of PREMIX, containing 20% R 78 – for Argentina as long as Dr.Pesserl’s state of health permitted: Chart 4

 

In the APPENDIX:

 

Chart 3: Text of Chart 1 in German:

              Copy of the Mitt..Physiolog.-chem.Institut Berlin, Jan 1950

Chart 4: Dr.Pesserl´s letter from  May 3rd, 1981

 

Ad II:     Fodder additive Y 2000 

Based on Y 20-crude suspension received from normal yeast killed "under 

very mild conditions". Comparison of the properties of Y 20-preparations with normal yeast in Tab.1.

 

Tab.1: Properties of Y 20-crude suspension andY 20-dialysate (cell-free) compared with normal yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae

 

Properties	Y 20  crude suspension	Y 20  dialysate	normal  yeast
Reproduction ability	-	-	+
fermentation ability	-	-	+
fermentation increasing	+	+	-
respiration increasing (liver hogenate)	+	+	-
growth acceleration	+	+	-
metamorphose acceleration (tadpoles)	+	+	-
wound healing acceleration	+	+	-
increase in efficiency (swim test, mouse)	+	+	-
The cell-metabolism-activation by Y 20 (Y 2000) can be demonstrated by growth experiments in laboratory tests with guppy fish or with tadpoles Xenopus or impractical animal nutrition experiments.

 

 

We distinguish between the following fodder additives Y 2000:

Y 2000 pur containing Y 20 crude suspension - spray dried,

Y 2000 pur containing Y 20 crude suspension – hot roll dried,

Y 2000 crude suspension,

Y 2000-Premix, containing 20% Y 2000 crude suspension

 

The probiotic freshly prepared Y 20 crude suspension can be also sprayed directly

into fodder material in concentrations of 0,1-0,3% (as was done earlier with antibiotics).

Y 2000  was  tested during many years on chicken, pigs, sheep, calves, rabbits, dogs, fish etc in countries like Brazil,  Japan, China, Taiwan, Poland, Hungary, USSR, Switzerland, and Germany.

 

Y 2000 has nothing to do with normal fodder yeast.  Y 2000 is effective in   concentrations of 0,1-0,3% added to the animal fodder. Such low concentrations are sufficient to activate the cell metabolism, increasing the ATP-production. So more energy is available for all energy depending reactions: All organs get activated, also the organs responsible for young animals still growing (indirect hormone effect).

 

See ref (1273a,b) incl. Plate 7 in Part V-A, p 405-6, p 430, and in Part II, “Y 2000 – fodder additive at work”, p 540-597

 

Ad III:Solid P-containing fertilizer from urine

As early as 1947, the author conducted experiments with the objective of recovering solid fertilizer from urine which could be classified as “NPK fertilizer” [5e]: U 48, U 55

 

In the frame of production of NPK-fertilizercalciumsilicate phosphate (residue from building industry) was useful [5f]

 

The results achieved at the time offer an opportunity to save the depleting supplies of phosphate.

 

A detailed description is given in Part II, p 424-429; cf. also [3]

 

ad IV: Food protection against rodents

As reported in Chart 2: Cannibalism triggered suddenly by the oral administration of the anti-B₆-vitamin 4-deoxy-pyridoxine (I) in pregnant mice [4].

 

Fighting against rodents was the word. The question whether it might be used for the extermination of rodents like mice and rats was pursued by us in several directions, but not yet with 100% satisfactory results so far.

 

In the meantime we achieved best results with an I-analogue (patent pending).

 

Chart 2:Cannibalism caused by two anti-B₆-vitamines

Lecture held in Dayin Village, Jinghai, Tianjin, P.R. China, in March 1992,invited from the Comprehensive Agricultural Corporation, Tianjin (second China trip).

 

One example for many experiments regarding cannibalism triggered by the anti-B₆-vitamine 4-desoxy-pyridoxine (I) carried out in Berlin from 1955 to 1969and in Brazil at UFSM from 1975 onwards in shown in the following table.

 

All in all, another 20 basic series of experiments with I[each of which with 500 animals (400 female: 100 male)] were carried out over the years. The conditions [amount of I administered, time and duration of the I application (other rodents such as rats, golden hamsters, dormice)] were varied. Experimental runs followed to determine the possible simultaneous influence of arginine and other amino acids, prolactin, testosterone and other factors and others not mentioned.

 

As far as possible from a quantity point of view, other anti-B₆ vitamins and related compounds were included in these experiments. Unfortunately, the experiments relating to the synthesis ofI analogues turned out to be time-consuming and complex. Experiments over several years on the improvement and facilitation of the synthesis of I also presented unforeseen difficulties[xii]. The report on experiments carried with other animals such as rodents and fish is included elsewhere.

 

 

 

 

The question of whether it might be used for the extermination of rodents was pursued by us in several directions, With I we carried out:

 

-  Experiments to improve the synthesis of I and to make it cheaper, as mentioned above, unfortunately without success. However, this is not true for another analogue of I we synthesised.

 

-  Field experiments with bait containing I so far had a success rate of only 40%  to 50%: rodents also look for other feed.

 

-  Field experiments with leaving bait containing no B₆ at all had a success rate of only 20% to 30% as long as the rodents were free to choose their feed.

 

-  Field experiments with bait containing the I analogue mentioned above showed a success rate of 70% to 80% so far.

 

-  We carried out field experiments with I in large areas in Brazil, only with moderate success. In contrast to that, there is 100% success to be expected in small areas (houses). It seems worthwhile to start experiments with I in cities like London because according to up-to-date reports of England there are rats (Rattusrattus,Hausratte) in 10% of all buildings (ref. R.Knauer, DIE WELT from May 9th, 2008, p 31); less success probably with Rattusnorvegicus(Wanderratte).

 

An excellent bait must be found to outwit the intelligent rats, namely to prevent the rats the choose other food stuffs.

 

I would like to point to the long-term cooperation of Ms.ManjulaTaneja, BSc., MSc. (India) to the project "Cannibalism and 4-deoxy-pyridoxine" (from 1964 to 1970). Dipl.Chem.H.J.Hein organized and started up these mice experiments from 1955 to 1962 and later watched them over very carefully. I have to thank both very much for their efforts and dedication.

 

APPENDIX

 

Chart 3: Copy of the Mitt.Physiolog.-chem.Inst.Bln. Jan 1950

 

 

 

 

 

Chart 4:Dr.Pesserl’s letter from May 3rd, 1981*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* The mentioned  520kg animal feed concern: PREMIX, containing 20% R 78

 

Bibliography: The author’s references

 

[1]lecture and essay from Jan 1950 -  Mitt.Physiol.chem.Inst.,Bln Jan 1950: Chart3; Engl translation in Chart 1    

[2]   http://www.bwwsociety.org/journal/html/bsicrisishtm  2002

[3]http://www.bwwsociety.org/bwworder/riemschneider.htm 2011

[4]http://www.bwwsociety.org/journal/html/vitamins htm 2008; cf. Part II, pp 706ff

[5]   Re.Reading- 75 Years Chemistry: Part I-V, 2011/13, Bibliotheque. World Wide, Irvine, Cal. 92604, USA

[5a] 2012, Part IV, p 913/4

[5b] 2011, Part II, p 901/3; Part I, p 654-692; Part V-A, p 873-876

[5c] 2011, Part I, p 498

(5d) lecture given in Nov 1991 in Jinghai, Tianjin, P.R.of China, at HUA DACorporation, cf.alsoPart II, p 555-560

[5e]Herstellung und analytische Untersuchungen von U 48 und U 55, Urin-Feststoff-Fällungen (reguliert) zu Düngerzwecken – Düngerversuche mit U 48, U 55

    7 Laborberichte 1948 und 1954/55: In allen Fällen mit U 55 (U 48) besseres Wachstum als in den Kontrollen; der Vergleich mit üblichen NPK-Düngern verlief  positiv.

[5f] Biochemisches Grundpraktikum

1953-1959 : Hektographierte Texte, den Studenten zur Verfügung gestellt

1960-2009 : In 9 Auflagen gedruckte Exemplare, erschienen in deutscher und ab 1974 auch in portugiesischer Sprache für Studenten der FU Berlin und der UFSM, Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasilien (Universitätsdruckerei).

4.Auflage 1982:  FRED HÖPFNER, Pestalozzistr.106, Berlin 12.

Die Arbeitsvorschrift „Urinfeststoff-Fällung zur Düngergewinnung“ war nur  in den hektographierten Exemplaren enthalten und ist später aus patentrechtlichen Gründen gestrichen worden.

[6]   In Asia, Africa and in parts of South America eating insects is nothing strange, an age-old idea. Already in the Book of Moses it is permitted to eat locust:ThirdBook of Moses 11/22. But actuallyentomophagywillonly befeasible for mankindwhen the worldpopulation goes over 10-12 billion.

[7]   Cannibalism: In his lecture for students, entitled "Cannibalism" the author stated: "Probably the word "cannibalism" was used first by COLUMBUS who in the West Indies heard of tribe "Caribe" eating human flesh [Caribe = Canibe due to allophonic phenomenon]".   In the Encyclopaedia Britannica it reads: "Cannibalism comes from Canibales, the Spanish name for the Carib people, a West Indies tribe formerly well known for their practice of cannibalism (also called anthropophagy). The expression cannibalism has been extended into zoology to mean one individual of a species consuming another of the same species as food."