Evaluation of dietary inclusion of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae on fish production performance: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Fishmeal, as one of the main protein sources, has become scarce and expensive. This conventional protein source is no longer considered sustainable. As an alternative, black soldier fly (BSF) is a popular non-conventional protein source that has been tested in the formulation of aquafeed to replace fishmeal due to its nutritional value, reasonably low price, and large abundance. Nevertheless, evidence on the BSF supplementation varied among species. This meta-analysis examined the influence of replacing fishmeal with BSF on the performance of fish species by using 47 published papers targeting 23 different species. The results revealed that, overall, BSF inclusion had no significant effect on survival rate (SR) and feed conversion ratio (FCR). The magnitude effect on specific growth rate (SGR) and weight gain (WG) was species-dependent; it increased SGR and WG of omnivores but decreased (P<0.01) when fed to carnivores and herbivores. Meta-regression analysis indicated a negative linear relationship of FCR on carnivore (P<0.05; R2=0.61) and omnivore (P<0.05; R2=0.15). In addition, principal component analysis confirmed that although most species showed an increasing trend in response to dietary BSF, FCR decreased on a few species (Anabas testudineus and Acipenser baerii) which belong to omnivores. In conclusion, BSF meal can be a partial substitute for fishmeal in the formulation of only some specific species no more than 30%. Special notice should be considered on carnivore and herbivore species because utilisation of BSF in species might compromise their performance.

Insect meals in a circular economy and applications in monogastric diets

“…Based on recent meta-analyses, it is possible to state that inclusion levels of insect meals up to 25% to 30% support good growth performances ( Hua, 2021 ; Liland, et al, 2021 ), but the optimal inclusion level seems to be dependent on the fish and the insect species ( Hua, 2021 ). High HI inclusion levels (>30%) reduced the growth parameters, while TM meal seems more tolerated ( Hua, 2021 ; Prakoso et al, 2022 ). Specifically, the use of TM meal in aquafeed (from 2.5% to 65% of inclusion) did not affect the growth performance ( Hua, 2021 ).…”

“…Nowadays, the aquaculture industry uses plant-based ingredients as well as by-products of animal origin ( Hua, 2021 ). Insect-derived products can play a major role in the development of a sustainable aquaculture and trials have been conducted to assess nutrient digestibility, growth performance, product quality, and the impact on fish and shrimp health ( Hua 2021 ; Liland et al, 2021 ; Prakoso et al, 2022 ; Tran et al, 2022 ).…”

Modelling the impact of replacing fish oil with plant oils: A meta‐analysis to match the optimal plant oil for major cultured fish

“…By doing global information collection, it could answer controversial questions and reveal the dominant factors that derived or influenced the observed phenomena. In recent years, meta‐analysis articles have flourished in the aquaculture research field, but researcher attention has been overwhelmingly attracted by the alternative of fish protein sources, 25–33 only a few articles were about fish oil replacement. In 2011, Sales and Glencross summarized the impacts of replacing marine oil with canola, linseed and soybean oil on fish growth, feed conversion ratio (FCR) and muscle fatty acid composition, 34 while Mock et al established a regression model of the ω‐3 long‐chain polyunsaturated fatty acid content in Atlantic salmon fillet, emphasized that fish weight could be a significant predictor 35 .…”

Hermetia illucens Larvae Meal as Partial Fishmeal Replacement in Jade Perch Diet Cultured in Biofloc: Growth Performance, Feed Efficiency and Consumer Acceptance

“…Although the effect of BSFLM on growth has been extensively reported in various fish species (Prakoso et al 2022), there are currently limited studies on the sensory evaluation of fishes when fed with BSFLM. Most reported findings were on the salmonids (Belghit et al 2019;Borgogno et al 2017;Lock, Arsiwalla & Waagbø 2016;Sealey et al 2011), with two studies on the freshwater fish fillet evaluation when fed dietary BSFL (Muin et al 2023;Ordoñez et al 2022).…”