9 research outputs found
Effects of herbs dietary inclusion on growth performance and nutrient composition of Tenebrio molitor larvae
No full textMealworm larvae (MW, Tenebrio molitor) are able to convert grain byproducts (i.e. bakery waste) into high-quality biomass, which can be processed into animal feed. Since moderate inclusion of several herbs may occur in some bakery waste material, this study examined the effects of herbs dietary inclusion on growth performance and nutrient composition of Tenebrio molitor larvae. The MW larvae were reared on wheat bran (control diet), or supplemented with four different herbs, namely, basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme supplemented in two concentrations (0.125% and 2% dry matter). All experiments were conducted under light condition, to counteract the meal moths, at 27°C with 60% relative humidity for five weeks. Growing performance parameter were recorded during the trial and nutritional composition was analysed on resulting larvae. The growth performance showed no differences between groups. Considering the DM content, no differences were observed among groups. In the case of protein content, greater inclusion of herbs resulted in lower protein levels. Regarding the fat level, only the inclusion of oregano led to lower content compared to the control group. Concluding the dietary inclusion in MW larvae of selected herbs up to 2% did not affect growth performance. However, some minor detrimental effects have been observed in the case of fat content in larvae receiving oregano. Further studies are needed for understanding the observed effects
Tenebrio molitor: effects of four herbs on larval composition and on their growth performance
No full textMealworms (MWs) can grow on bakery waste and upgrade them into high-quality biomass to produce animal feed. The dough products are sometimes prepared with small quantities of herbs that can have a negative effect on MWs growing performances. This trial investigated the effects of including four different herbs in the MWs substrate: basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme, in two concentrations, 0.125% and 2% on a dry matter basis. All treatments were performed in duplicate. Ten thousand 4-week-old larvae were placed on 2.1 kg of substrates and reared for five weeks under dark conditions at 27°C with 60% relative humidity. The data, which included growth performance, harvested prepupal biomass (wet weight), moisture content, and nutritional profile, were analyzed using a one-way ANOVA. P-values below 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Samples were taken by each tray during the trial to record growth performance parameters and resulted in no differences between groups (P>0.05). The collection of the insects was initiated upon the appearance of the first pupae (nine-week-old larvae). The chemical composition, the total polyphenolic content (TPC) and the antioxidant activity of the resulting larvae were analyzed. The dry matter content showed no differences among groups (P>0.05). The protein content was hindered by a greater herb inclusion (P=0.002) and the fat level was slightly reduced by the inclusion of oregano (P=0.024). The larval TPC has been worsened by the highest herb inclusion (P<0.001) and a negative Spearman correlation (-0.463) was observed between the substrate’s TPC and the MWs’ TPC. Conversely, the incorporation of herbs led to an augmentation in larval antioxidant activity, as evidenced by measurements of ABTS (P<0.001) and FRAP (P<0.001). The inclusion of herbs did not modify larval growth performance; however, a higher inclusion level of the tested herbs resulted in modifications to larval chemical composition, with a concomitant detriment to larval TPC and an improvement in antioxidant activity. Further researches are needed to understand the observed effects
Size and shape attributes of packaging remnants commonly detected in former food products
No full textFormer food products (FFPs) are alternative feed ingredients used in livestock diets. Although the processes of transforming FFPs into animal feed often include mechanical unpacking and grinding, the final products may still be prone to packaging contamination. Common materials of packaging remnants found in FFPs are aluminium, cellulose, and plastic. Therefore, it is important to investigate and to provide information regarding the size and shape attributes of these materials to improve processing techniques in the feed industry. A total of 441 packaging remnants from 17 sources of FFPs were included in this study. Fourier transform infra-red spec-troscopy coupled with an optical microscope was used to identify the material of the packaging remnants, which resulted in a categorisation of remnants consisting of 44 aluminium, 308 cellu-lose, and 89 plastic remnants. The categorised remnants were observed with a stereomicroscope and were subsequently measured by a digital camera and image analysis software. Each meas-urement contains 21 size attributes and 9 shape attributes, some of which were derived from calculations. The distribution of values for both size and shape attributes overlapped between the three materials though aluminium remnants were on average smaller (p<.05) in size and more regular (p<.05) in shape compared to cellulose and plastic ones. Also, aluminium rem-nants showed a narrower range in most of the size and shape attributes. Through the informa-tion provided by the image analysis and the measurements, it was concluded that the obtained values in size and shape attributes had broadly spread distributions that overlapped for different materials
Fortification of circular substrate for black soldier fly with zinc and/or selenium: effect on growth performances
No full textZinc (Zn) and Selenium (Se) are essential trace elements for livestock. To ensure an adequate intake is achieved,
several supplementation sources have been studied. Emerging and innovative sources, such as Zn and Se-enriched
insects, could be useful for their potential use in animal nutrition. The purpose of this work was to study the effects
of including Zn and/or Se in the rearing substrate of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL), where a lack of information
regarding growing performance effect was identified. In this study, BSFL were reared on five different substrates:
a control substrate (CTR diet) of plant-ingredients (Gainesville diet); Okara and Potato Waste based substrate
(OPW); OPW-Zn fortified with 150 mg/kg of Zn; OPW fortified with 0.3 mg/kg of Se; and OPW-Zn+Se fortified
with 150 mg/kg of Zn + 0.3 mg/kg of Se. All experiments were carried out under dark condition, at 26 °C with
60% relative humidity and the growth performance of the resulting larvae and prepupae were observed. The mean
larval weight was not influenced by treatment (P>0.05), In contrast, the CTR group showed significantly higher
larval biomass yield at the end of the trial (P<0.05). The number of resulting larvae and their survival rate were
not influenced by the treatment (P>0.05). These results suggest the possibility of use these substrates. However,
more studies are necessary to determine the effects on reproductive performance of BSF adults as well as their
proximate composition. Funded by Agritech National Research Center, spoke
Enriched zinc and selenium agri-food by-products: effects on growth performance of black soldier fly
No full textSelenium (Se) is an essential element for both animals and humans. It is involved in the func-tioning of several enzyme systems and various biochemical reactions, particularly those that protect cells from damage. Zinc (Zn), meanwhile, improves immune function by enhancing the immune response, making animals more resistant to infections and diseases. Black soldier fly (BSFL) larvae are recognized for their capacity to bioaccumulate microelements and can be reared on a wide range of substrates. Furthermore, the incorporation of Se and/or Zn has the potential to result in the production of an enriched insect meal. This study investigated the ef-fects of incorporating Zn and/or Se into the rearing substrate of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL). Five different substrates were evaluated: (I) a control diet based on plant ingredients (Gaines-ville diet, CTR); (II) a substrate derived from okara and potato waste (OkPa); (III) OkPa-Zn, supplemented with 150 mg/kg of Zn; (IV) OkPa-Se, containing 0.3 mg/kg of Se; and (V) OkPa-Zn+Se, enriched with both 150 mg/kg of Zn and 0.3 mg/kg of Se. The larvae were reared in darkness at 26 °C with 60% relative humidity, and their growth performance was assessed. For each diet, 500 larvae were used, with five replicates per treatment. The mean weight of individ-ual larvae was not significantly affected by the type of substrate (P>0.05). However, by the end of the trial, the CTR group exhibited a significantly higher total biomass (P<0.05). Survival rates remained consistent across all treatments (P>0.05). These findings suggest that okara and potato-based substrates, with and without Zn and Se supplementation, are suitable for BSFL rearing. Further research is recommended to explore the larval composition, trace mineral as-similation, and reproductive outcomes in black soldier fly
Insect-based feed blends : effects of extrusion on selected technological and nutritional features
No full textThe aims of this study were to examine the effect of extrusion process on Hermetia illucens (BSFL),
Tenebrio molitor (YMWL) and Zophobas morio (SWL) blends with or without soybean meal (SBM)
addition and to evaluate the impact of extrusion on the in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVD-DM)
and in vitro crude protein digestibility (IVD-CP) in insect-based blends. Two blends, for each insect,
have been formulated as follows: (i) 50% of corn meal, 25% of insect, 25% of dried carrots meal; (ii)
25% of corn meal; 25% of SBM, 25% of insects, 25% of dried carrots meal. The nutritional content of
blends prepared for extrusion with and without SBM were 80 - 81% and 79 - 81% for dry matter; 4.7 -
6% and 3.2 - 4.2% for ash; while 20.8 - 22% and 9 - 11.6% for crude protein, respectively. All these
results had no significant difference between the insect’s species. All insect-based blends were
characterized by a “good” extrudability and torque value remained always under 2 Nm in all samples.
Of note, torque value results seem to be higher when SBM was added to the blend, although this
difference was not significant. In this study, at 100°C the highest water removal was in the sample
YMWL-based and without SBM, while the lowest was obtained in the sample BSFL-based and with
SBM, because as reported in other study, inclusion of plant protein, seems to increased the water-
holding capacity. IVD-DM and IVD-CP digestibility had no significant difference before and after the
extrusion process and also considering the addition of SBM. In conclusion, it’s possible to use
extrusion technology with different insect’s species. The addition of SBM doesn’t have any effects on
IVD-DM and IVD-CP, but seems to affect torque value and water removal, but further investigations
are needed
Edible Insects in Pet Food: Does the Rearing and Processing Alter the Nutritional Value?
No full textDespite the legal approval, the use of edible insects in food for dogs and cats is still limited and there are still some fundamental questions before the widespread application will kick off. This research focused on the nutritional value of yellow mealworms (YMW) and black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) reared, harvested, and dried in different ways. For YMW, standard rearing crates were harvested over different sieve meshes, dividing them according to width. For BSFL, differences were created by different rearing densities (10,000, 20,000, 30,000 and 40,000 per crate of 60 by 40 cm). Concerning the effect of drying methods on nutritional quality, 3 different techniques— hot air at different temperatures (60°C, 90°C and 120°C), freeze-drying, and microwave drying — were evaluated using proximate analyses and in vitro digestibility trials. For YMW, larvae smaller than 2.5 mm had a higher protein content than the larger larvae (p = 0.002); however, this was compensated by a lower dry matter (DM) digestibility (p < 0.001) due to a higher crude fibre content (p < 0.001). Nitrogen digestibility was very high regardless of size (97%–98%). For BSFL, the only significant differences were in higher DM (p < 0.001) of the biggest larvae (10,000 per crate). In contrast to YMW, the biggest BSFL had the lowest in vitro digestibility (only 48% for DM and 83% for nitrogen compared to 60% for DM and 86% for nitrogen for the smaller sizes (p < 0.001)). The drying methods had no big impact on YMW on DM (85%–88%) and nitrogen (96%–98%) digestibility values. For BSFL, digestibility of DM and nitrogen were 57%–66% and 93%–97%, respectively, with the lowest values for drying at 120°C
Effects of alternative feed ingredients on red meat quality: a review of algae, insects, agro-industrial by-products and former food products
No full textFollowing the promotion of animal welfare awareness, modern meat production should be applied ethically and sustainably. Alternative circular feeds such as algae, insects, agro-industrial by-products (AIBPs) and former food products (FFPs) play a key role to re-define the current meat production system. This review highlights the effects of feed ingredients mentioned above on red meat quality, from a blue-bio/circular economy point of view. The results show that when algae are added in adequate amounts, they can improve nutritional and sensory quality of meat. Insects, and AIBPs, can affect meat quality mainly in terms of selected components like fat content and quality, while the effects of FFPs as feed ingredients on meat quality are still limited. These alternative feedingstuffs are regarded as interesting protein/energy sources for animal diets and are expected to be increasingly used globally as a replacement for conventional feedstuffs. The inclusion level of insects, AIBPs and FFPs is often higher than that of algae, because algae are considered more as feed supplements instead of ingredients that mainly provide macronutrients to the animals. However, more research is needed for a comprehensive evaluation of these materials, especially in terms of: (i) feed formulation and processing methods (inclusion level of such materials and technology used for feed production); (ii) their potential impacts on animal growth and health status and on environmental footprint; (iii) carcass quality; and (iv) final meat product quality, safety and wholesomeness
Size and shape attributes of packaging remnants commonly detected in former food products
No full textFormer food products (FFPs) are alternative feed ingredients used in livestock diets. Although the processes of transforming FFPs into animal feed often include mechanical unpacking and grinding, the final products may still be prone to packaging contamination. Common materials of packaging remnants found in FFPs are aluminium, cellulose, and plastic. Therefore, it is important to investigate and to provide information regarding the size and shape attributes of these materials to improve processing techniques in the feed industry. A total of 441 packaging remnants from 17 sources of FFPs were included in this study. Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy coupled with an optical microscope was used to identify the material of the packaging remnants, which resulted in a categorisation of remnants consisting of 44 aluminium, 308 cellulose, and 89 plastic remnants. The categorised remnants were observed with a stereomicroscope and were subsequently measured by a digital camera and image analysis software. Each measurement contains 21 size attributes and 9 shape attributes, some of which were derived from calculations. The distribution of values for both size and shape attributes overlapped between the three materials though aluminium remnants were on average smaller (p <.05) in size and more regular (p <.05) in shape compared to cellulose and plastic ones. Also, aluminium remnants showed a narrower range in most of the size and shape attributes. Through the information provided by the image analysis and the measurements, it was concluded that the obtained values in size and shape attributes had broadly spread distributions that overlapped for different materials
