Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae meal improves quail growth performance.

The aim of the present study was to determine the nutritional value of black soldier fly (BSF) larvae meal for quail (experiment I) and the dose-response effects of BSF levels on growth performance, relative organ weight, and body composition of growing quails (experiment II). In experiment I, 100 35-day-old quail were distributed in a completely randomized design, with two treatments (reference and test diet) and 10 replicates. The experimental period consisted of 5 days of adaptation, followed by 5 days of total excreta collection. The experimental feed consisted of a reference diet and a test diet formulated with 850 g/kg reference diet and 150 g/kg BSF. In experiment II, 1000 1-day-old quail were distributed in a completely randomized design, with five dietary levels of BSF (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 g/kg). At 42 days of age, birds were slaughtered, and the relative organ weight and body composition were determined. Apparent metabolizable energy values corrected for nitrogen retention of BSF meal were 13.8 MJ/kg. Across the starter (1-14 days) and overall period (1-42 days), increasing BSF levels had a quadratic effect on body weight and body weight gain. Feed conversion ratio was quadratically affected during the starter phase and linearly reduced over the overall period. Additionally, the BSF levels linearly decreased the small intestine's relative weight at 42 days and had a quadratic effect on the rate of protein deposition. We concluded that the inclusion of 100 g/kg BSF meal improves feed conversion ratio for growing quail.

A Systematic Review and Metanalysis on the Use of Hermetia illucens and Tenebrio molitor in Diets for Poultry.

Insect meal as a protein source has been considered a sustainable way to feed animals. H. illucens and T. molitor larvae meal are considered high-protein sources for poultry, also presenting considerable amounts of fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. However, other potential components in insect meal and insect oil have been more extensively studied in recent years. Chitin, lauric acid, and antimicrobial peptides can present antimicrobial and prebiotic functions, indicating that low levels of their inclusion in insect meal can beneficially affect broilers' health and immune responses. This systematic review was developed to study the impact of insect products on the health parameters of broilers, and a metanalysis was conducted to evaluate the effects on performance. A database was obtained based on a selection of manuscripts from January 2016 to January 2023, following the mentioned parameters. Both H. illucens and T. molitor meal or oil products had positive effects on poultry health status, especially on the ileal and cecal microbiota population, immune responses, and antimicrobial properties. The average daily gain was greater in broilers fed T. molitor meal compared to H. illucens meal (p = 0.002). The results suggest that low levels of insect meal are suitable for broilers, without resulting in negative effects on body weight gain and the feed conversion ratio, while the insect oil can totally replace soybean oil without negative impacts.

Full-Fat Black Soldier Fly Larvae Meal in Diet for Tambaqui, Colossoma macropomum: Digestibility, Growth Performance and Economic Analysis of Feeds.

Black soldier fly (BSF, Hermetia illucens) larvae is a prominent ingredient in aquafeeds due to its high protein and energy contents. This study evaluated the digestibility of full-fat BSF larvae meal (FF-BSFL) and its inclusion in diets for tambaqui, Colossoma macropomum. The apparent digestibility coefficient of FF-BSFL for protein and energy was around of 88%, corresponding to 33.55% and 21.61 MJ kg-1 of digestible protein and energy, respectively. For the feeding trial, tambaqui juveniles (53.23 ± 1.07 g) were distributed in a completely randomized experimental design (n = 4; 150 L tanks; 10 fish per tank). Fish were fed diets including 0%, 5.25%, 10.50%, and 15.75% FF-BSFL to apparent satiation for 60 days. Fish fed 10.50% FF-BSFL dietary inclusion showed higher weight gain, feed intake, final biomass, and relative growth rate. The 10.50% FF-BSFL diet presented the highest index of economic profitability. Weight gain fitted a third-degree equation and the optimum FF-BSFL inclusion level was estimated at 11.6%. However, FF-BSFL dietary inclusion up to 15.75% did not impair growth fish performance. FF-BSFL seems to be a promising source of protein and energy for omnivorous fish aquafeed.

Hematological and histopathological evaluation of meat-type quails fed Madagascar cockroach meal.

Aiming at the sustainability of meat production, insects can replace traditional ingredients in the diet of poultry. Studies evaluating performance in birds have emerged to ensure this ability, but few address the health parameters of animals. This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of the inclusion of Madagascar cockroach meal in traditional diets on hematological and histopathological traits of meat-type quails. The inclusion of Madagascar cockroach meal in the diet was evaluated in four levels: 0%, 6%, 12%, and 18%. Observations for hematological and histopathological traits from 6 repetitions on each group were recorded for both sexes at 35 days of age. Hematological parameters were not influenced by Madagascar cockroach inclusion on diet and quail's sex. Red and white blood cells count were within the normal range for poultry. No significant findings were observed during the histopathological evaluation of the pancreas, duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. Liver fatty degeneration was visualized in all treatments in the same intensity. Quail's diets containing up to 18% insect meal during the growth period did not affect the studied health parameters, so the Madagascar cockroach meal could be considered as an alternative to a protein ingredient for poultry production.

Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Larvae and Prepupae Defatted Meals in Diets for Zebrafish (Danio rerio).

The black soldier fly (BSF) Hermetia illucens is receiving increasing attention as a sustainable fishmeal alternative protein source for aquaculture. To date, no studies have explored the effects of fishmeal replacement with BSF V instar larvae or prepupae meals due to their peculiar nutritional properties on fish performances. This study investigated the effects of 100% replacement of fishmeal (control diet) with defatted BSF meals (V instar larvae and prepupae meals, treatments) on growth performance and welfare of zebrafish (Danio rerio), from larvae to adults, in a 60-day feeding trial. Following the inclusion of BSF meals, the expression of key genes involved in growth (igf1, igf2, mstnb, myod1, myog, myf5), hydrolysis of chitin (chia.2, chia.3, chia.5), immune- (il1b, il6, tnfα), and stress- (hsp70 and nr3c1) responses, as assessed by qPCR, was modulated in all of the molecular pathways, except for the stress response. Overall, our findings showed that both BSF meals can totally replace fishmeal without adverse impacts on adult zebrafish growth parameters (final total and standard length, final body weight, weight gain, daily growth rate, specific growth rate) and welfare, with BSF prepupae meal inducing the most beneficial effects, thus suggesting their potential application to meet fish requirements in aquaculture.

Cafeteria-Type Feeding of Chickens Indicates a Preference for Insect (Tenebrio molitor) Larvae Meal.

This study aimed to determine whether broiler chickens display a preference for Tenebrio molitor larvae (TM) meal by evaluating ingredient acceptability and birds' performance. Sixty 14-day-old male chickens were assigned into two treatment groups (5 birds/pen, n = 6) in a cafeteria-type study: the control (C) group, and the TM group. Each pen was equipped with one bell drinker and four through feeders allocated side by side; all feeders of the C group contained a complete standard diet whereas each feeder of the TM group contained one of the following ingredients: ground corn, extruded semi-whole soybean, vitamin-mineral supplement mixture, and TM meal. Feed intake was recorded daily and growth was monitored periodically up to day 32. Chickens which had access to individual feed components showed a delay to display preference for TM, but consumed, overall, up to 50% of the total intake as TM meal. Feed intake and growth performance were lower in all periods for TM group (p < 0.02), whereas feed conversion ratio was improved on days 22-28 and days 29-32 of age (p < 0.01). Data from bivariate and multidimensional analysis indicate that birds started to reach a balance of ingredient intake at 25 days of age, showing a high correlation between consumption of each ingredient and the day of the experiment. Chickens exhibited a preference for T. molitor meal, resulting in improved feed efficiency, which allows us to conclude that it can be a suitable feed alternative for poultry.

Potential Value of Using Insect Meal As an Alternative Protein Source for Japanese Quail Diet

A feeding trial was conducted to determine the potential value of replacing 100 % of meat and bone meal (MBM) ingredient as the major animal protein source in Japanese quail diets by 50% and 100% of insect meal derived from S. littoralis Larvae. A total of 360, 7 days-old quail chicks, were randomly divided into three equal groups (120 chicks) with three replicates each. They were offered three different diets 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The Diet 1 contained MBM only as a major source of animal protein, diet 2 had both MBM (50%) and insect meal (50%) while diet 3 contained insect meal (100%). Results: Partial or total replacement of S. littoralis larvae with MBM increased body weight gain and improved feed conversion ratio (p0.05). Moreover, treated groups with insect meal were economically much more profitable than conventional MBM. On the other hand, serum total protein, albumin, globulin, triglycerides, cholesterol, total antioxidant, thyroxin, estradiol-17B, and testosterone hormones level were significantly higher (p0.05) in treated groups than in the control one. While, serum alkaline phosphates, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities in all treated groups were within equal range and did not differ among them. The inclusion of insect meal protein as a replacement for MBM up to 100% replacement has no adverse effect on growth performance, carcass characteristics, hematological and serum biochemical indices of growing Japanese quail chicks. Moreover, it can be used as one of a protein source for lowering the production costs of poultry diets.

Potential Value of Using Insect Meal As an Alternative Protein Source for Japanese Quail Diet

A feeding trial was conducted to determine the potential value of replacing 100 % of meat and bone meal (MBM) ingredient as the major animal protein source in Japanese quail diets by 50% and 100% of insect meal derived from S. littoralis Larvae. A total of 360, 7 days-old quail chicks, were randomly divided into three equal groups (120 chicks) with three replicates each. They were offered three different diets 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The Diet 1 contained MBM only as a major source of animal protein, diet 2 had both MBM (50%) and insect meal (50%) while diet 3 contained insect meal (100%). Results: Partial or total replacement of S. littoralis larvae with MBM increased body weight gain and improved feed conversion ratio (p0.05). Moreover, treated groups with insect meal were economically much more profitable than conventional MBM. On the other hand, serum total protein, albumin, globulin, triglycerides, cholesterol, total antioxidant, thyroxin, estradiol-17B, and testosterone hormones level were significantly higher (p0.05) in treated groups than in the control one. While, serum alkaline phosphates, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities in all treated groups were within equal range and did not differ among them. The inclusion of insect meal protein as a replacement for MBM up to 100% replacement has no adverse effect on growth performance, carcass characteristics, hematological and serum biochemical indices of growing Japanese quail chicks. Moreover, it can be used as one of a protein source for lowering the production costs of poultry diets.(AU)

Effects of dietary replacement of fishmeal by mealworm meal on muscle quality of farmed shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei.

This study investigated the muscle quality of the shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei fed on a diet containing different proportions of mealworm meal (MW) (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%) as a substitute for fishmeal, which is the normal diet used in shrimp commercial production. The proximate composition, fatty acid profile, colour and texture of the shrimps were evaluated. Moisture, protein, and ash content of shrimp muscle were not significantly altered when fishmeal was replaced by MW (p>0.05). However, the replacement resulted in a linear increase in lipid content (p<0.05). The fatty acid composition of the experimental diets directly mirrored the fatty acid composition of shrimp muscle. The absence of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in MW composition resulted in a linear decrease in eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic fatty acids in shrimp muscle with increasing levels of MW in the diet. The n-3/n-6 ratio ranged from 0.50 to 0.67. Colour and firmness were unchanged between the treatments. Although the use of MW as a fishmeal substitute in L. vannamei diets has affected the lipid and fatty acid composition of shrimp muscle, from a human nutritional perspective, the lipid content of the shrimps is considered low and the n-3/n-6 ratio remained within the human dietary requirements. Therefore the use of a mealworm diet for shrimp production is a viable alternative to increasingly expensive fishmeal based diets.