Detection of insect’s meal in compound feed by Near Infrared spectral imaging

Abstract

Insects have recently emerged as a new protein source for both food and feed. Some studies have already demonstrated that insects' meal can be successfully added to animal feed without threaten animals' growth indices. However, effective and validated tests to individuate insects' meal in feed are strongly needed to meet traceability and safety concerns and to support the European legislation under development. Spectroscopic techniques represent valuable rapid and non-destructive methods that can be applied for in-situ analysis in feed production plants or in farms. In this work a Fourier Transform Near Infrared spectroscopy imaging (FT NIR) as a potential screening method for the detection and quantification of insects' meal in feed is presented. Discriminant analysis was used for the automatic recognition of insects' meal fragments into the feed matrix. Moreover, the possibility to quantify insect's meal in feed sample was successfully tested. The proposed method is a rapid and green strategy for feed contamination screening analysis.

Species-Specific Discrimination of Insect Meals for Aquafeeds by Direct Comparison of Tandem Mass Spectra

“…For example, Marien et al [13], developed a qPCR assay for the detection of H. illucens; and Debode et al [14], for the detection of T. molitor . Some investigators also looked at the applicability of light microscopy for different commercially available IMs from H. illucens , Gryllus assimilis , A. diaperinus, Bombyx mori and T. molitor [15,16] or Fourier Transform Near Infrared spectroscopy approach (FTNIR) for the detection of T. molitor and A. Domesticus [17]. However, with the fast-growing number of insect species used for the production of insect meals, the detection, identification and differentiation of insect species by qPCR or microscopy remain a challenge.…”

Nondestructive Raman Spectroscopy as a Tool for Early Detection and Discrimination of the Infection of Tomato Plants by Two Economically Important Viruses

“…Therefore, innovative, noninvasive, and nondestructive methods for disease detection have been proposed, based on fluorescence, volatile sensors, and imaging, but these are still at an experimental stage . Spectroscopic techniques have interesting applications and, unlike other methods, are simple, rapid, and affordable. , Among them, Raman spectroscopy (RS) has been applied in the biomedical sector to whole cells, tissues, and fluids, and in the agricultural field where it was proposed for species-specific analysis for feed safety and traceability, for contaminant detection or abiotic stress determination . RS provides specific biochemical fingerprints linked to detailed chemical and structural alterations, possibly representing sensitive and phenotypic markers of a disease.…”

Shifted excitation Raman difference spectroscopy as enabling technique for the analysis of animal feedstuff

“…As an example, near‐infrared spectroscopy has a wide range of applications in the area of feed analysis, [ 7 ] for example, for the detection of melamine contaminations. [ 8,9 ] The technique has been applied in combination with microscopic imaging to assess the presence of meat and bone meal [ 10,11 ] and insect's meal [ 12 ] in selected feeds. Further studies report the classification of feed types [ 13 ] and feed ingredients.…”