scholarly journals The Effects of Diet Formulation on the Yield, Proximate Composition, and Fatty Acid Profile of the Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens L.) Prepupae Intended for Animal Feed

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danieli ◽  
Lussiana ◽  
Gasco ◽  
Amici ◽  
Ronchi
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Animal Feed ◽  
Growth Yield ◽  
Mass Rearing ◽  
Substantial Effect ◽  
Feed Conversion ◽  
Black Soldier Fly ◽  
Hermetia Illucens ◽  
High Fiber ◽  
Diet Formulation

The black soldier fly (BSF; Hermetia illucens L.) is a very promising insect species due to the ability to convert low-value substrates in highly nutrient feed. This work aimed to study the effect of three nominally isoenergetic diets containing plant ingredients such as barley, alfalfa, and wheat byproducts, formulated to be higher in nonfiber carbohydrates (TMD1), fibers (TMD2), and protein (TMD3) in comparison to an extensively genetic modified cereal (cornmeal)-based diet (C), on the growth, yield, and nutritive traits of BSF prepupae (BSFPs). Three growing trials with four biological replicates were carried out. Proximate and fatty acid analyses were performed on the diets and BSFPs. Feed conversion ratios (FCR), dry matter and nutrient yields, and apparent concentration factors (aBCF) for fatty acids (FAs) were calculated. Diet formulation had a substantial effect on the survival, development rate, and larval yield, but the FCR was unaffected. The BSFPs fed TMD3 did not result in a higher crude protein content in comparison to the C or TMD2 diets. Despite the leveled fat content of the diets, BSFPs reared on TMD1 were highest in fat, saturated FA, and fat yield. An apparent bioconcentration factor (aBCF) value lower than unity that was found for the unsaturated FA suggests that the BSFPs inefficiently absorb them from the diet or possibly turn them into saturated FA. However, the unsaturated FA accumulation in BSFPs depended on the levels that were found in the diet, which suggested some possibilities for the FA profile modulation. Overall, the TMD2 performed well despite the low-value of its main ingredients and high fiber content and can be considered to be a feasible option for the mass rearing of BSFPs that are intended for animal feed.

Impact of age, size, and sex on adult black soldier fly [Hermetia illucens L. (Diptera: Stratiomyidae)] thermal preference

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
N.F. Addeo ◽  
C. Li ◽  
T.W. Rusch ◽  
A.J. Dickerson ◽  
A.M. Tarone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Thermal Gradient ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Animal Feed ◽  
Mass Rearing ◽  
Thermal Preference ◽  
Black Soldier Fly ◽  
Hermetia Illucens ◽  
Surface Temperatures ◽  
The Impact

Population growth and rapid urbanisation have increased the global demand for animal feed and protein sources. Therefore, traditional animal feed production should be increased through the use of alternative nutrient sources. Insects as feed are beginning to fill this need. One such insect is the black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens L. (Diptera: Stratiomyidae). However, to more effectively mass produce the black soldier fly, a better understanding of its thermal biology is needed. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of age, size, and sex on adult black soldier fly thermal preference. The thermal preference of adult black soldier flies was determined by exposing flies to a thermal gradient with a range of surface temperatures and monitoring their positions over time. An aluminium plate was used to create a linear thermal gradient where surface temperatures ranged from ~15-60 °C. Flies were distinguished by age (1-d-post-emergence vs 7-d-post-emergence), size (large vs small) and sex (male vs female) to assess whether thermal preference differed by specific life-history traits. Thermal preference for 7-d-post-emergence adults was significantly lower (19.2 °C) than 1-d-post-emergence adults (28.7 °C), respectively. Similarly, small adults selected significantly cooler (21.1 °C) temperatures than large adults (26.9 °C). No significant differences in thermal preferences were found between sex, regardless of age or size. In fact, males and females had similar thermal preference of 23.8 and 24.2 °C, respectively. This study reveals that multiple life-history traits of adult black soldier fly affect their thermal preference, and thus should be taken into consideration by mass rearing facilities to optimize production.

Enrichment of polyunsaturated fatty acids in black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) fortified with squid liver oil

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
G. Tirtawijaya ◽  
J.-S. Choi
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acids ◽  
Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids ◽  
Animal Feed ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Feed Conversion ◽  
Black Soldier Fly ◽  
Hermetia Illucens ◽  
Growth Increase ◽  
Black Soldier Fly Larvae ◽  
Fly Larvae

Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL; Hermetia illucens) are known as an alternative feed for livestock, but their lack of polyunsaturated fatty acids (such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)) makes it less valuable. To overcome these problems, BSFL substrate (chicken feed) was fortified with squid liver oil (SLO) at five different concentrations (0, 2.5, 5, 10, and 20%). The growth rate, feed conversion, and nutritional content of BSFL were evaluated at day 15 of rearing. Of the five concentrations, SLO 5% showed the highest growth increase (25.82-fold) among the other treatments (20.63-22.98-fold; P<0.05). The fortification of SLO 5% did not result in differences in survival and feed conversion of larvae compared to larvae fed the control substrate. By rearing BSFL in a substrate containing SLO 5%, the lipid content of the larvae was 32% higher than that of larvae fed the control substrate (P<0.05). The accumulation of lipids was faster in the substrate containing SLO 5% (33.20% for 8 days) than in the control substrate (24.36% for 15 days). The control group of BSFL contained no DHA or EPA, but after rearing on the SLO 5% fortified substrate, the larvae contained DHA at an average level of 2.99 g/100 g lipid and EPA was 2.68 g/100 g lipid. Harvested larvae from SLO 5% treatment was within safe levels of Pb, Cd, As, and Hg (840, 370, 860, and 26.7 μg/kg, respectively), under the EU threshold for animal feed. Based on our results, it concluded that BSFL enriched with PUFAs, DHA and EPA can be considered as important nutritional components of animal feed without excessive heavy metals accumulation by feeding SLO in an appropriate amount.

Nutritional value of the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.) and its suitability as animal feed – a review

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.B. Barragan-Fonseca ◽  
M. Dicke ◽  
J.J.A. van Loon
Keyword(s):  
Nutritional Value ◽  
Insect Pests ◽  
Animal Feed ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Mass Rearing ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Larval Body ◽  
Black Soldier Fly ◽  
Hermetia Illucens ◽  
Complete Replacement

The black soldier fly (BSF; Hermetia illucens L.; Diptera: Stratiomyidae) has been studied for its capability to convert organic waste to high quality protein, control certain harmful bacteria and insect pests, provide potential chemical precursors to produce biodiesel and for its use as feed for a variety of animals. Nutritional value of BSF larvae is discussed, as well as the effect of biotic and abiotic factors on both larval body composition and performance. Although BSF larvae contain high protein levels (from 37 to 63% dry matter; DM), and other macro- and micronutrients important for animal feed, the available studies on including BSF larvae in feed rations for poultry, pigs and fish suggest that it could only partially replace traditional feedstuff, because high or complete replacement resulted in reduced performance. This is due to factors such as high fat content (from 7 to 39% DM), ash (from 9 to 28% DM), and consequences of processing. Therefore, further studies are needed on nutrient composition, digestibility and availability for target species and on improved methods to process larvae, among other aspects. Additionally, it is clear that factors including quantity and quality of food, temperature, substrate moisture and/or larval crowding can affect BSF performance. However, the biology of BSF, in particular of the adult stage, has not been studied in detail. This review provides background information on the nutritional value of BSF larvae, its suitability as animal feed, biotic and abiotic conditions that affect its performance, and identifies which knowledge is required to ensure more dependable yields of BSF-mass rearing and development of economically feasible methods to take advantage of this species as animal feed.

scholarly journals A high-quality, chromosome-level genome assembly of the Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens L.)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas N Generalovic ◽  
Shane A McCarthy ◽  
Ian A Warren ◽  
Jonathan M D Wood ◽  
James Torrance ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Assembly ◽  
Animal Feed ◽  
Repetitive Sequences ◽  
Genomic Variation ◽  
Runs Of Homozygosity ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Black Soldier Fly ◽  
Hermetia Illucens ◽  
Chromosome Conformation ◽  
Important Species

Abstract Hermetia illucens L. (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) is an increasingly important species for bioconversion of organic material into animal feed. We generated a high-quality chromosome-scale genome assembly of the BSF using Pacific Bioscience, 10X Genomics linked read and high-throughput chromosome conformation capture sequencing technology. Scaffolding the final assembly with Hi-C data produced a highly contiguous 1.01 Gb genome with 99.75% of scaffolds assembled into pseudochromosomes representing seven chromosomes with 16.01 Mb contig and 180.46 Mb scaffold N50 values. The highly complete genome obtained a BUSCO completeness of 98.6%. We masked 67.32% of the genome as repetitive sequences and annotated a total of 16,478 protein-coding genes using the BRAKER2 pipeline. We analysed an established lab population to investigate the genomic variation and architecture of the BSF revealing six autosomes and an X chromosome. Additionally, we estimated the inbreeding coefficient (1.9%) of a lab population by assessing runs of homozygosity. This provided evidence for inbreeding events including long runs of homozygosity on chromosome five. Release of this novel chromosome-scale BSF genome assembly will provide an improved resource for further genomic studies, functional characterisation of genes of interest and genetic modification of this economically important species.

scholarly journals Life on a piece of cake: performance and fatty acid profiles of black soldier fly larvae fed oilseed by-products

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
S.J.J. Schreven ◽  
S. Yener ◽  
H.J.F. van Valenberg ◽  
M. Dicke ◽  
J.J.A. van Loon
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Animal Feed ◽  
Press Cake ◽  
Seed Meal ◽  
Fatty Acid Profiles ◽  
Black Soldier Fly ◽  
Pufa Ratio ◽  
Oilseed Crops ◽  
Black Soldier Fly Larvae ◽  
By Products

The oilseed crops Crambe abyssinica and Camelina sativa produce oils rich in erucic acid and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), respectively. After pressing the oil, a seed cake remains as a protein-rich by-product. Edible insects may convert this seed press cake and the defatted seed meal produced from it into insect biomass suitable for animal feed. Black soldier fly larvae (BSF, Hermetia illucens) can grow on a wide range of organic waste types, but may be hindered by excess protein or the plant toxins characteristic for these two oilseed crops, i.e. glucosinolates and their breakdown products. We tested the effects of 25, 50 and 100% oilseed by-product inclusion in the diet on survival, development, biomass production and fatty acid composition of BSF larvae. Larval performance on diets with up to 50% camelina by-product or 25% crambe by-product was similar to performance on control diet (chicken feed), and decreased with higher inclusion percentages. Larval fatty acid profiles differed significantly among diets, with larvae fed press cake more distinct from control than larvae fed seed meal. Larvae fed camelina press cake had more α-linolenic acid, whereas larvae fed crambe contained most oleic acid. The n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio decreased with increasing proportion of by-product, especially on camelina diets. Lauric acid content was highest in larvae fed 100% camelina meal or 50% crambe meal. These results indicate that BSF larvae can be successfully grown on diets with camelina or crambe oilseed by-products, and that the resulting larval n-6:n-3 PUFA ratio is favourable for animal feed. However, the fate of glucosinolates and their derivatives remains to be determined, to guarantee chemical safety of camelina- or crambe-fed BSF larvae for animal feed.

scholarly journals FIRST RECORD OF HERMETIA ILLUCENS (LINNAEUS, 1758) – BLACK SOLDIER FLY, FROM NEPAL

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-23
Author(s):  
Biplov Sapkota ◽  
Shristi Upadhyaya ◽  
Anuj Lamichhane ◽  
Rajendra Regmi ◽  
Kuldip Ghimire ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Waste ◽  
Animal Feed ◽  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
First Record ◽  
Feed Ingredient ◽  
Black Soldier Fly ◽  
Hermetia Illucens ◽  
Animal Feeding ◽  
Simple Systems ◽  
First Time

Hermetia illucens (Linnaeus, 1758)- Black soldier fly is a beneficial insect which has been used in simple systems, to treat organic waste efficiently and rapidly, and to produce animal feed ingredient and fertilizer as end products. These flies are naturally found in warmer parts of the globe. The incidence of Black soldier fly was recorded for the first time in Nepal in between April and May 2020 in the sub urban area of Chitwan District, Nepal. Identification of the insect was done in the Laboratory of Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal. Both adult and larval forms of the insect were identified based on the study of morphological characteristics of captured specimens using simple microscope and stereomicroscope. The record of this insect in Nepal opens up a new dimension for its use in bio-systems to treat organic waste and produce more sustainable ingredient for animal feeding, and rich fertilizer to be used in agriculture.

scholarly journals Effects of insecticides on mortality, growth and bioaccumulation in black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0249362
Author(s):  
Nathan Meijer ◽  
Theo de Rijk ◽  
Joop J. A. van Loon ◽  
Lisa Zoet ◽  
H. J. van der Fels-Klerx
Keyword(s):  
Animal Feed ◽  
Accumulation Factor ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Black Soldier Fly ◽  
Hermetia Illucens ◽  
Growth And Survival ◽  
Maximum Residue Level ◽  
Sequential Experiments ◽  
Food And Feed ◽  
Black Soldier Fly Larvae

Residues of persistent insecticides may be present in the substrates on which insects are reared for food and feed, which may affect insect growth or survival. In addition, insecticidal substances may bio-accumulate in reared insects. The objective of this study was to assess potential effects of selected insecticides on the growth and survival of black soldier fly larvae (BSFL, Hermetia illucens) and on their safety when used as animal feed. Six insecticides (chlorpyrifos, propoxur, cypermethrin, imidacloprid, spinosad, tebufenozide) with different modes of action were tested in two sequential experiments. Cypermethrin was also tested with the synergist piperonyl butoxide (PBO). Standard BSFL substrate was spiked to the respective maximum residue level (MRL) of each insecticide allowed by the European Union to occur in feed; and BSFL were reared on these substrates. Depending on the observed effects in the first experiment, spiked concentrations tested in the second experiment were increased or reduced. At the concentrations applied (1 and 10 times MRL), three of the six tested substances (chlorpyrifos, propoxur, tebufenozide) did not affect the survival or biomass growth of BSFL, compared to the control (non-spiked) treatments. At MRL, imidacloprid stimulated the growth of BSFL compared to the controls. Spinosad and cypermethrin at the MRL level negatively affected growth and survival. The effects of cypermethrin appeared to be augmented by addition of PBO. A mean bio-accumulation factor of ≤0.01 was found in both experiments for all substances–except for cypermethrin, which was comparatively high, but still below 1 (0.79 at 0.1 mg/kg). The lack of accumulation of insecticides in the larvae suggests that there is no risk of larval products being uncompliant with feed MRLs. However, we conclude that insecticides present in substrates may affect growth and survival of BSFL. More research on a larger variety of substances and insect species is recommended.

scholarly journals Insects: a novel animal-feed protein source for the Australian market

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (11) ◽  
pp. 2037
Author(s):  
K. DiGiacomo ◽  
H. Akit ◽  
B. J. Leury
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Animal Feed ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Food Additives ◽  
Companion Animals ◽  
Mass Rearing ◽  
Scale Insect ◽  
Insect Species ◽  
Feed Conversion

The increasing demands on natural resources to provide food and feed has led to increased global initiatives to improve production sustainability and efficiency. The use of insects as an alternate source of protein for human food and production-animal feed is one such avenue gaining attention. With there being a large variety of insect species endemic to each region, there is likely to be an ideal candidate for each specific production system and region. Insects require less land and water than do terrestrial animals, have high feed-conversion efficiency (FCE) and emit low levels of greenhouse gases (GHG). Insect species currently investigated for mass production include black soldier fly larvae (BSFL), mealworms and crickets. In western societies, it is less likely that wide-scale adoption of insects as a food source will occur, although speciality products with ‘hidden’ insects, such as cricket flour, are commercially available. It is likely to be more achievable for insects to be included into the diets of production and companion animals. While there has been significant investment in research and development of large-scale insect-production systems, such facilities are yet to start producing at a significant scale. The safety and efficacy of insects as a food or feed must be established in conjunction with the development of mass rearing facilities and the optimisation of insect-rearing substrates. Insects also have nutraceutical properties that may have beneficial impacts on animal health and growth, with scope for these properties to be exploited as feed or food additives. The present review will explore the following question: ‘are insects a future livestock industry for Australia?’.

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