- Insects for food and feed
- Insect nutrition
- Fatty acid metabolism
- Insect-fungi interactions
Dr. Itai Opatovsky

Areas of Interest
Research
The field of insect mass rearing as food and feed is developing rapidly and can improve dramatically utilizing the innovative capabilities of Israel. Mass rearing of insects relies greatly on nutritional composition of their diet. Understanding these nutritional requirements and their effect on insect physiology holds the promise to ripen into applied, efficient and sustainable solutions meeting the market demands.
In addition, most insects rely on symbiotic microorganisms to provide them with vital nutrients. Therefore, understanding (and possibly, boosting) these basic metabolic interactions is an essential stage for metabolic composition manipulation of the insects, therefore influencing their quality as food source.
Teaching
Introduction to entomology, from cell to organism (biotechnology), introduction to entomology and rearing insects, invertebrate zoology, seminar I and II (animal science)