Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Meal as a Promising Feed Ingredient for Poultry: A Comprehensive Review

The attempt to replace marine-derived ingredients for aquafeed formulation with plant-derived ones has met some limitations due to their negative side effects on many fish species. In this context, finding new, sustainable ingredients able to promote fish welfare is currently under exploration. In the present study, poultry by-products and Hermetia illucens meal were used to replace the vegetable protein fraction in diets totally deprived of fish meal intended for gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata). After a 12-week feeding trial, a multidisciplinary approach including histological, molecular, and spectroscopic techniques was adopted to investigate intestine and liver responses to the different dietary formulations. Regardless of the alternative ingredient used, the reduction in dietary vegetable proteins resulted in a lower incidence of intestine histological alterations and inflammatory responses. In addition, the dietary inclusion of insect meal positively affected the reduction in the molecular inflammatory markers analyzed. Spectroscopic analyses showed that poultry by-product meal improved lipid absorption in the intestine, while insect meal induced increased liver lipid deposition in fish. The results obtained demonstrated that both poultry by-products and H. illucens meal can successfully be used to replace plant-derived ingredients in diets for gilthead seabream, promoting healthy aquaculture.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hermetia illucens and Poultry by-Product Meals as Alternatives to Plant Protein Sources in Gilthead Seabream (Sparus aurata) Diet: A Multidisciplinary Study on Fish Gut Status

Randazzo

Zarantoniello

Cardinaletti

et al. 2021

“…This reduction in cholesterol level can be ascribed to lower serum cholesterol in laying hens that fed on HILM, in addition to chitin contributing to decreased lipid absorption by binding to the lipids and fatty acids [ 11 , 14 ]. Furthermore, the bile acid-binding capacity of the chitin could inhibit bile reabsorption and enhance cholesterol excretion by hypocholesterolemia, resulting in lower cholesterol levels in the blood [ 38 , 39 ]. However, cholesterol levels in laying quails’ eggs and growing quail breast meats were not affected by the HILM [ 7 , 40 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Dietary Inclusion Level of Microwave-Dried and Press-Defatted Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Larvae Meal on Productive Performance, Cecal Volatile Fatty Acid Profile, and Egg Quality in Laying Hens

Park

Kim

Baek

et al. 2021

Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae meal (HILM) is a promising alternative to soybean meal (SBM). However, little information is available on the effect of microwave-dried HILM as a dietary protein source in the diets of laying hens. We studied the effect of dietary inclusion level of microwave-dried HILM on productive performance, cecal volatile fatty acid profile, egg quality, overall fatty acid profile, and heavy metal residues of the egg in laying hens. A total of 144 laying hens (25-week-old) were randomly assigned to three dietary groups (eight replicates and six birds/cage): a control diet, and two experimental diets in which SBM was replaced with 2% HILM (2HILM) and 4% HILM (4HILM). The laying hens that fed the HILM showed satisfactory results in productive performance and egg quality. Branched-chain fatty acid levels increased linearly (p < 0.001) with dietary treatment in the cecal digesta. Total monounsaturated fatty acid increased linearly (p < 0.01), while total polyunsaturated fatty acid decreased linearly (p < 0.01) in the eggs by dietary treatments. Heavy metals, magnesium, zinc, and aluminum were increased linearly with dietary treatment; however, undesirable heavy metals were under permissible levels. Thus, microwave-dried HILM could be a possible alternative to SBM in the diets of laying hens; however, improvements in fatty acid profile are needed.

“…Variance in performance of insect meal in aquafeeds may have been a product of insect rearing conditions, processing technology, diet, insect species, and stage of development (larval, pupae, nymph, or adult) [ 17 , 18 ]. Larvae from many insect species, including black soldier fly ( Hermetia illucens ) have been investigated for insect ingredient production [ 17 , 19 , 20 ]. The dipteran H. illucens is a highly promising species for aquaculture feed production, as the mass-rearing techniques for industrial production of high quality insect meal from this species are much further in their development process [ 21 , 22 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of a Black Soldier Fly Ingredient on the Growth Performance and Disease Resistance of Juvenile Pacific White Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei)

Richardson¹,

Dantas-Lima²,

Lefranc³

et al. 2021

This study was performed as part of developing a functional feed ingredient for juvenile Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). Here we assess the effects of dietary inclusion of a Black Soldier Fly Ingredient (BSFI) from defatted black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae meal on growth performance, tolerance to salinity stress, and disease resistance when challenged with Vibrio parahaemolyticus or a strain of white spot syndrome virus (WSSV). A control diet was used for comparison with three test diets including 4.5, 7.5, and 10.5% of BSFI (BSFI4.5, BSFI7.5, and BSFI10.5). After 28 days, all diets with BSFI had improved weight gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and specific growth rate (SGR) compared to control. Indeed, SGR was significantly improved from inclusion of 4.5% in the diet, whilst FCR was significantly improved at 7.5% (p < 0.05). During the growth trial, survival was not affected by diet. Shrimp health performance was not significantly affected by the diets across the disease and salinity challenges. Overall, the results indicate that the inclusion of BSFI from H. illucens improves the performance of juvenile L. vannamei.