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More and more people are interested in the use of insects as animal feed or as animal feed ingredient. Insect products are allowed for use already in petfood and aquaculture. It is expected that EU-regulations will be adapted in the near future and thereafter insect products may also be used as feed material for poultry and pigs. Research is making progress and the number of papers on insects as mini-livestock increases rapidly as shown during a one-day symposium on “Insects for Feed” during the annual EAAP meeting.
For the second year, the new study commission on Insects of the European Federation of Animal Science organised a one-day symposium on “Insects for Feed” during the annual EAAP meeting in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Teun Veldkamp of Wageningen Livestock Research and president of the Insect commission of EAAP, noticed that symposia on insects attract more and more people. Earlier the world conference ‘Insects to Feed the World’ in Wuhan, China, attracted almost 300 participants from 40 countries, and the EAAP Insect Symposium attracted almost 100 delegates. The latter symposium included two sessions: ‘Cost effective insect production and high quality insects for feed’ and ‘Safety, regulatory issues and effects of insects in animal feed’.
Cost effective and high quality
Lars-Henrik Lau Heckmann presented three large projects currently conducted in Denmark. SUSMEAL, WICE, and inVALUABLE. The partners in these consortia span the entire value chain and include entrepreneurs, experts in biology (entomology and nutrition), biotech, automation, processing and food tech and -safety. This interaction of competences is key to lifting insect production to an industrial level. In summary, main findings by Heckmann confirmed that mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) are efficient converters of organic by-products and are suitable to use as feed and food ingredient. A sustainable pilot-scale mealworm production was presented; sustainable in terms of environment as well as economy. It is important to develop a cost effective diet of approved organic residues and waste products coming from the feed and food industries. Also the construction and operation of a pilot plant for the production of larvae of the type black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) was presented.
Filip Wouters focussed on lowering production costs and upscaling of insect rearing by focusing on automation of the labour intensive tasks. Bijuu mike yandere simulator roblox. An automated feeding line for mealworm was developed, enabling implementation of a strict feeding regime and monitoring. By this technique less space is required and minimal movement of the crates with the insects. Several sieving techniques were compared for both mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) and the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens).
David Deruytter presented a method to predict the number of offspring in mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) based on the beetle density and or egg density in order to have a more efficient feeding regime and hence a faster growth and more revenue. Two different techniques were assessed to predict the final harvest. In conclusion, it is possible to determine the final harvest at a very early stage via the two presented techniques potentially resulting in more optimal feeding and growth.
Luciano Pinotti mentioned that the use of alternative feed ingredients in farm animal’s diet can be an interesting choice from several standpoints, even though their nutritional value, quality and safety should be always kept in mind. Among different alternative feed ingredients, insect based ingredients can be considered a hot topic. Insects are looked as an interesting alternative protein source for feed and are expected to be increasingly used in Europe as replacers for animal-derived proteins especially in aquaculture, even though their potential for other farm species and as fat sources, cannot be excluded. Insect species and life stages (larvae vs. pre-pupae vs. adult form) represent further sources of variation which could impact not only feed formulation, but also feed production. Different leftovers were presented that can be used to upgrade low value organic waste streams into high-value biomass.
Safety and regulatory issues
Safety aspects of substrates for insects and of insects for feed were discussed by Tarique Arsiwalla and Ine van der Fels. Only plant origin sources (pre consumer) and milk or egg products (strictly no meat, fish, manure or post-consumer organics) are allowed as substrates to produce insects. The use of insect protein is allowed in petfood and feed for aquaculture and insect lipids are allowed for all farmed animals as well as pet food. The insect producing sector is in favour of allowing the use of pre-consumer “former foodstuffs, including meat and fish” as substrate for rearing insects. Van der Fels presented results of recent safety studies on potential accumulation of different mycotoxins in black soldier flies and lesser mealworm larvae. In this study, substrate was used, that was artificially contaminated with four different mycotoxins (aflatoxin B1, deoxynivalenol (DON), ochratoxin A or zearalenone) and a mixture of these. Black soldier fly larvae and Lesser mealworm excreted or metabolized the four mycotoxins that were present in their substrate. The four mycotoxins do not seem to be a concern in insects considering current EC limits for mycotoxins in feed.
Annette N. Jensen presented the effect of starving and rinsing mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) at harvest aiming to empty their gut and presumably lower the microbial load for sanitary reasons. The microbial load was generally high (approx. 8 Log CFU/g), and neither starvation for 24 or 48 h, nor did rinsing with water seem to reduce the microbial load consistently in two independent trials (preliminary results). An apparent 1 Log CFU/g decrease (from 7 to 6 Log CFU/g) in the Enterobacteriaceae numbers after 24 h but not 48 h of starvation was not supported by the second trial. An attempt to reduce the microbial load by feeding with sterile feed substrate did also not reduce the microbial load in the larvae and the remaining substrate (frass) yielded high bacterial loads after the larval feeding. More knowledge about the dynamics between the inherent microbial composition of the larvae and the uptake of microbes from the feed substrate may gain insight on how to ensure the microbial quality of mealworm products.
Insects or insect products as feed or feed ingredient
Five presentations were given on the use of insects or insect products as feed or feed ingredient.
Laura Gasco considered insect products as a sustainable form of protein production. Insect-based proteins can partially replace conventional proteins in feeds for fish, poultry and pigs. Moreover, insects seems to be a promising source for bioactive substances (antimicrobial peptides, chitin, lauric acid) with pharmacological functions, able to modulate the animal microbial communities or to stimulate the immune response.
Johann Detilleux presented preliminary results on effects of feeding larvae of black soldier fly on poultry microbiota. New modifications were identified in the chicken phenotypes as gut microbiota composition varied. For example, indirect changes were observed in the average daily gain, feed conversion ratio, tibia ash percentage and abdominal fat score in relation with the introduction of larvae in the diet, changes mediated by the influence of the diet on the relative abundance of Bacillaceae. We suggested presence of Dysgonomonas in larvae and in the growing substrate (after the passage of BSF larvae) may be one of the mechanisms used by the larvae to transform manure because these bacteria have a fermentative metabolism producing acids and no gas.
Olga Moreira emphasised that insects such as the Black soldier fly should be used to convert organic residues to valuable products. The ENTOVALOR project is studying such conversions. The preliminary results will contribute to the selection of larvae rearing substrates based in agricultural by-products and to larvae efficient use as an alternative protein rich ingredient for the monogastric compound feed industry.
Kristy DiGiacomo performed in vitro rumen fermentation studies and suggested that black soldier fly larvae will have a different nutritional value for ruminants depending on the larvae rearing substrate.
Florian Leiber studied replacement of conventional protein sources by Black soldier fly in layers, broilers and trout. Performance of these animal species was not affected.
Next symposium August 2019
Next to theatre presentations also high quality posters were exposed on different insect species and expertise. The next EAAP Insect symposium will be at the 70th Annual EAAP meeting, which will be held in Ghent, Belgium from 26th to 30th August 2019.
Half the seafood that U.S. consumers eat comes from aquaculture—the raising and harvesting of freshwater and marine species in controlled conditions. Over 90 percent of that seafood is imported, creating a U.S. trade deficit of more than $14 billion.
The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and its partners are working to close that gap on several research fronts. One such area is the development of cost-effective feeds that will help the U.S. aquaculture industry expand and capture a greater share of the world market for fishery products.
Feed And Grow Fish Steam
Toward that end, ARS researchers are exploring plant-based alternatives to fishmeal and fish oil. These two aquafeed ingredients are made from so-called forage fish caught in the open ocean, like menhaden, herring, mackerel, anchovy, and sardine. Fishmeal and oil are rich sources of amino acids, lipids, and other nutrients that farm-raised species need to grow—especially carnivorous ones like Atlantic salmon, striped bass, and rainbow trout.
But worldwide catches of forage fish are deemed unlikely to sustain aquaculture’s long-term growth, experts say. Aquafeed containing all or mostly fishmeal and oil can be costly—$1,500 or more per ton. In catfish, tilapia, and other farmed species, it’s not unusual for aquafeed use to account for over half the farmer’s production costs.
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Supplanting some of that fishmeal and oil with soybeans or other plant-based ingredients can defray some of the costs and alleviate concerns over the presence of ocean contaminants. But plant-based ingredients aren’t always as palatable to or as readily digested by fish—some of which require at least 40 percent protein in their diets.
So-called anti-nutrients are another issue with plant-based feeds. Soybeans, for example, contain phytic acid, a naturally occurring compound that can prevent farmed fish from absorbing phosphorus, iron, and other nutrients from their feed. Instead, these nutrients get excreted into water as waste.
One approach, being investigated by ARS and university scientists in Auburn, Alabama, is to spray plant-based feeds with phytase, a commercially available enzyme that destroys phytic acid and is used with pig and other livestock feeds. In trials, catfish that ate a phytase-treated commercial diet had higher red blood cell and hemoglobin counts than fish given untreated feed, according to Benjamin Beck, a physiologist in ARS’s Aquatic Animal Health Research Unit in Auburn. Catfish in the phytase group also grew faster, suggesting the approach could lead to improved health and productivity in commercially raised catfish, which fetched a U.S. farmgate value of $350 million in 2016. ARS and university scientists in Stoneville, Mississippi, recently found that giving fish more than 500 phytase units (a measurement of enzyme activity) showed little benefit. This suggests catfish farmers could avoid the cost of using more phytase than is necessary.
In Idaho, ARS scientists and their collaborators are taking a different tack to improve the nutrition of farm-raised fish. Instead of customizing the feed to suit the fish, they are, in a sense, customizing the fish to suit the feed.
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Led by Ken Overturf, an ARS geneticist in the Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research Unit in Hagerman, the team has selectively bred a strain of rainbow trout that will eat an all-plant, high-soybean diet and grow efficiently on it.
In trout and other members of the salmonid family, a long-term diet of soy or other plant-based aquafeeds can lead to reduced growth and an inflammatory intestinal condition called enteritis, among other complications. However, in feeding trials, the soy-tolerant fish strain developed twice as fast as nontolerant rainbow trout lines and showed no signs of enteritis.
The advance is tied to the team’s identification and analysis of multiple genes and physiological pathways enabling the trout strain to digest and metabolize soy proteins for muscle growth. The research opens the door to a strategy that could reduce dependency on fishmeal-based diets for all commercially produced carnivorous fish.
Soy isn’t the only potential alternative aquafeed ingredient. ARS scientists, including Overturf and Rick Barrows (ARS retired), are also evaluating the potential of flaxseed, barley protein concentrate, poultry processing remains, and dried distillers’ grains with solubles, a byproduct of ethanol-production.
Other candidate ingredients include discarded tree nuts like pistachios, single-celled organisms like yeasts, meals made of insect larvae, and algae. Biodiesel production from algae uses the algal carbohydrates but leaves a protein-rich coproduct that was readily consumed by California yellowtail and white seabass in feeding trials. On a related front, algae-based feeds are being examined as sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Consuming omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil and other foods can offer us health-promoting benefits, like reduced risk of heart disease.
Feed And Grow Fish Research
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In addition to collaborating with commercial feed manufacturers and others in the private sector, ARS researchers also partner with experts from stakeholder groups, academia, and state and federal agencies, like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration via its Alternative Feeds Initiative. Established in November 2007, the initiative seeks to “identify alternative dietary ingredients that will reduce the amount of fishmeal and fish oil contained in aquaculture feeds while maintaining the important human health benefits of farmed seafood.”
Developing and evaluating such ingredients is only part of the ARS research equation, though. Here are a few others:
• Recommendations on attaining dissolved oxygen levels in pond water that will maintain catfish health.
• Digestibility evaluations for different kinds of fish feed ingredients, with the information stored in an ARS-developed nutrient availability database.
• A chitosan-based treatment that, when combined with a meat-preparation procedure known as vacuum tumbling, prolongs the shelf life, flavor, and quality of refrigerated catfish fillets. Chitosan is a component of shellfish.
• Demonstration that dry cooking methods (baking, broiling, microwaving) do not alter the fatty acid levels of farm-raised salmon and that twice-weekly consumption provides the recommended levels of omega-3 fatty acids thought to reduce the risk of heart disease.
• Genetic studies to increase long-chain fatty acid levels in farmed rainbow trout and assess their potential health benefits in consumers through clinical trials. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture is supporting the effort, which includes examining the effects of finishing diets on trout fatty acid levels.
Genetics also figure prominently in meeting the dietary needs of farm-raised fish and, in turn, the health and well-being of consumers, notes Caird Rexroad, ARS national program leader for aquaculture. This includes breeding “fish-friendly” crops with better feed digestibility and developing new fish lines that are especially adept at using plant-based feeds as healthful sources of protein and oil.
Feed And Grow Fish Mods Steam
“Aquaculture has tremendous potential to provide healthy protein sources to a growing global population, and the United States has the natural resources and agricultural know-how, including genetic improvement technologies, to help make this happen,” says Rexroad.—By Jan Suszkiw, ARS Office of Communications.