No abstract

Edible insects such as the black soldier fly Hermetia illucens L. represent a potential and sustainable source of nutrients for food and feed due to their valuable nutritional composition, which can be modulated through dietary enrichment. The high content of saturated fatty acid (FA) of Hermetia illucens larvae fats can be modulated through dietary enrichment as a result of adding vegetable oils in the rearing substrate. Therefore, the present research aims to highlight the effects of a 10% addition of vegetable oils from five dietary fat sources (linseed oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, and hempseed oil) on the growth, development, reproductive performance, and the fat and fatty acids profile of H. illucens. Oil inclusion in the larval diet improved (p < 0.05) the weight of larvae, prepupae, pupae, and imago without influencing (p > 0.05) the egg clutch weight and the number of eggs in the clutch. In addition, the larvae fatty acid profile was different (p < 0.001) according to the oil type, because the unsaturated FAs (UFA) increased from 11.23 to 48.74% of FAME, as well as according to the larvae age, because the saturated FAs decreased from 85.86 to 49.56% of FAME. Linseed oil inclusion led to the improvement of the FA profile at 10 days age of larvae, followed by hempseed and rapeseed oil. These three dietary treatments recorded the highest concentrations in UFA (29.94–48.74% of FAME), especially in polyunsaturated FA (18.91–37.22% of FAME) from the omega-3 series (3.19–15.55% of FAME) and the appropriate n–6/n–3 ratio. As a result, the degree of the lipid polyunsaturation index increased (17.76–41.44) and the value of the atherogenic (3.22–1.22) and thrombogenic (1.43–0.48) indices decreased. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that enriching the larval diet with these oils rich in UFA can modulate the larvae FA profile, making them suitable sources of quality fats for feed and indirectly for food.

The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of dehulling white lupine seeds (Lupinus albus, cultivar Amiga) on the raw chemical composition and nutritional profile of lipids. There was no significant differences (p ˃ 0.05) between whole and dehulled lupine seeds in respect of their content in dry matter, ether extract, crude ash and nitrogen-free extract. However, the dehulled lupine seeds had a higher (p ˂ 0.05) crude protein level (51.69% of DM) than whole seeds (43.16% of DM), and a lower (p ˂ 0.05) crude fiber content (4.35% of DM) compared to that of whole seeds (14.15% of DM). The fatty acids profile is not affected (p ˃ 0.05) by the dehulling process. Oleic acid (C18:1 cis-9) is the main fatty acid in lupine seeds, and the level of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) is slightly higher in whole seeds. The n-3 / n-6 report is adequate in both whole (0.88) and dehulled (0.94) seeds, and the favorable polyunsaturated index (PI) indicates the high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which indicates that lupine seeds are a valuable source of essential fatty acids. Also, lupine seeds are characterized by favorable values of the thrombogenic (0.18) and atherogenic (0.14) indexes, and an appropriate hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic index value, features considered important for human health and animal nutrition.

Hermetia illucens is a sustainable and an increasingly bioeconomical source of nutrients for farm animals. It is still necessary, however, to improve our knowledge of the biological features of this species in order to maximize its use. The aims of this research were to evaluate the effect of the energy level of rearing diets on its body weight and fat-body reserves. The quantity and quality of the fats storred by the non-feeding stages of this insect and its reproductive performances were also studied. A control diet (CD -Gainesville diet) and three diets with progressively greater energy contents (kcal/kg ME) were formulated. The increase was achieved by including different amounts of maize, 40% (ED 1 ), 60% (ED 2 ) and 80% (ED 3 ), in these three diets. Abother diet (ED 4 ) consisted of fruit and vegetable waste. The results indicate that the body weight of larvae, prepupae, pupae and adult fl ies, as well as fat content of the larvae increased signifi cantly (p ˂ 0.01) with increase in the energy content of the diets. There was a positive Pearson correlation between energy content of diets and body weight of adult fl ies. The heaviest egg clutches with the highest number of eggs/clutch (p ˂ 0.01) were laid by fl ies reared on the diets with the highest energy content. The quality of the fat stored by larvae did not infl uence the weight and number of egg laid.

The current constant pressure on fishmeal production for aquaculture feeds stresses the need to search for alternative sources of protein. A possible protein ingredient is insect meal, being more cost effective than fishmeal and soybean meal. Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae meal is used in many studies with positive results regarding the bioproductive performances of salmonids. The balanced amino acid profile is comparable with the one of soybean meal. The crude protein and amino acid digestibility is high and similar to that of fishmeal. For rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), the protein biological value of the larvae is qualitatively lower than that of fishmeal. Atlantic salmon fed with experimental diets with larvae meal showed high bioproductive performances and a better protein biological value compared with salmon fed with a standard fishmeal diet. However, the nutritional quality and chemical composition of the larvae can be drastically improved through the feeding media, which make it a very interesting candidate as a substitute for fishmeal. The aim of this review is to present the current stage of H. illucens use in salmonid feeds, detailing the chemical composition and protein quality. Furthermore, the effect of larvae meal based diets on salmonids is presented.