Evaluating the nutritive profile of three insect meals and their effects to replace soya bean in broiler diet

This study was conducted to evaluate the comparative effect of maggot meal, silkworm meal and mealworm as dietary protein source on the production performance and some aspects of meat quality in broilers. In this regard, maggot meal was reared on chicken offal and poultry waste. Silkworm meal was obtained from silk industry, while mealworm was developed through beetles rearing. A total of 120‐day‐old broiler chicks were randomly divided into four groups where soya bean meal (M0) was replaced with maggot meal (M1), silkworm meal (M2) and mealworm (M3) respectively. Each group was further divided into three replicates. The study was carried out for a period of 5 weeks. Diets containing mealworm significantly reduced overall feed consumption and resulted into higher weight gain (p < .05). Lowest feed conversion ratio (FCR) was recorded for birds fed with mealworm diet (p < .05). Tenderness and juiciness of meat were higher (p < .05) in M3 compared to the control and other treatments. Mortality did not vary between the control and the treated groups. Therefore, it is concluded that insect meal is rich in essential nutrients and could be successfully used in broiler ration without compromising acceptability. In the light of this study, mealworm is the best choice in broiler ration, in comparison with maggot and silkworm.     

Black soldier fly and yellow mealworm live larvae for broiler chickens: Effects on bird performance and health status

The commercial broiler chicken strains are the result of successful selection programmes. Most of the problems related to welfare arise from the high growth rate and body weight. The use of environmental enrichments in intensive farming could have a positive effect on birds by increasing animal welfare. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of Hermetia illucens (HI) and Tenebrio molitor (TM) live larvae in the diets of broiler chickens on growth performance, carcass yield and health status. A total of 180 four-day-old male broiler chickens (Ross 308) were randomly allotted to 18 pens. Each pen was assigned to one of the three dietary treatments (6 replicates/treatment, 10 birds/replicate) as follows: (i) control diet (C): commercial feed (two feeding phases: starter [4–11 days] and grower [12–38 days]), (ii) HI: C + 5% of the expected daily feed intake (DFI) HI live larvae (calculated on dry matter [DM]) and (iii) TM: C + 5% of DFI TM live larvae (DM). At 39 days of age, birds were slaughtered. Growth performance parameters were overall not affected by dietary treatments, except for the grower phase feed conversion ratio (FCR) and the overall FCR being better in the TM broilers than the others (p < 0.01). No differences were observed for slaughtering performance and haematological and serum parameters, except for the spleen relative weight being higher (p < 0.01) in the birds administered with larvae when compared to the C group. Gut morphometric indexes and histopathological alterations were not influenced by insect larvae administration. In conclusion, the administration in limited quantities of HI and TM live larvae as environmental enrichment has no negative effects on broiler chicken growth performance and health status. A behavioural study could confirm that live insect larvae represent a novel natural environmental enrichment in broiler farming.     

Effects of dietary Tenebrio molitor meal inclusion in free‐range chickens

Insects are currently being considered as a novel protein source for animal feeds, because they contain a large amount of protein. The larvae of Tenebrio molitor (TM) have been shown to be an acceptable protein source for broiler chickens in terms of growth performance, but till now, no data on histological or intestinal morphometric features have been reported. This study has had the aim of evaluating the effects of dietary TM inclusion on the performance, welfare, intestinal morphology and histological features of free‐range chickens. A total of 140 medium‐growing hybrid female chickens were free‐range reared and randomly allotted to two dietary treatments: (i) a control group and (ii) a TM group, in which TM meal was included at 75 g/kg. Each group consisted of five pens as replicates, with 14 chicks per pen. Growth performance, haematological and serum parameters and welfare indicators were evaluated, and the animals were slaughtered at the age of 97 days. Two birds per pen (10 birds/treatment) were submitted to histological (liver, spleen, thymus, bursa of Fabricius, kidney, heart, glandular stomach and gut) and morphometric (duodenum, jejunum and ileum) investigations. The inclusion of TM did not affect the growth performance, haematological or serum parameters. The morphometric and histological features were not significantly affected either, thus suggesting no influence on nutrient metabolization, performance or animal health. Glandular stomach alterations (chronic flogosis with epithelial squamous metaplasia) were considered paraphysiological in relation to free‐range farming. The observed chronic intestinal flogosis, with concomitant activation of the lymphoid tissue, was probably due to previous parasitic infections, which are very frequently detected in free‐range chickens. In conclusion, the findings of this study show that yellow mealworm inclusion does not affect the welfare, productive performances or morphological features of free‐range chickens, thus confirming that TM can be used safely in poultry diets.     

An investigation on the gamete quality of Black Sea trout (Salmo trutta labrax) broodstock fed with mealworm (Tenebrio molitor)

In this study, the effect of combined feeding Black Sea trout (Salmo trutta labrax) broodstock with commercial feed and mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor) for 50 days before the breeding period in order to evaluate the gamete quality. While the control group was fed with commercial feed, mealworm larvae were given as an additional protein source 2 days a week and 3 days a week to the experimental groups formed from female and male individuals. In addition to the growth parameters, the number of eggs (number/individual) and the egg diameter (mm), sperm volume (ml), density of spermatozoa (×10⁹ cell/ml), total motility (%), progressive motility (%) and average curvilinear velocity (VCL, µm/sec) values were determined. At the end of the study, the highest live weight gain was found as 46.2 g in the control group of male. The egg diameters were 4.3 ± 1.8 mm and 4.5 ± 1.4 mm in the worm treatment groups fed twice and three times with mealworm respectively. As a result, it was determined that feeding fish with mealworm larvae as an addition to the commercial diet in female individuals did not affect the amount of eggs (p > .05), but the egg diameters were significantly smaller in the control group than the mealworm groups (p < .05). In spermatological characteristics, only the amount of sperm was different between the groups (p < .05); all other parameters were found to be similar to each other with no statistical differences (p > .05).     

大肠杆菌对黄粉虫不同虫态诱导动力学的研究

通过对黄粉就同虫态衣导动力学的研究,结果表明：用大砀杆菌对黄粉 同虫态进行诱导,均能诱导其产生抗菌物质,成虫、蚴、幼虫诱导剂量阈值依次为每虫体１０＾３、１０＾４、１０＾２菌体;每虫体用１０＾６菌体对不同虫态诱导后,抑菌活力时显上升的时间分别为７、１０、７ｈ菌体;每虫体用１０＾左右：ＰＡＧＥ（ＰＨ４．５）研究表明,不同虫态诱导产生及增强表达成分存在差异。     

不同方法提取昆虫蛋白质效果比较

本试验以黄粉虫为试验材料,对昆虫蛋白质的提取方法进行筛选。采用的提取方法共4种,分别为碱提蛋白法、盐提蛋白法、胰蛋白酶提蛋白法和Tris-HCl提蛋白法。经过试验数据分析,得出最佳提取方法为胰蛋白酶提蛋白法,碱提蛋白法和Tris-HCl提蛋白法次之,盐提蛋白法效果最差。     

黄粉虫龄期及生活习性的观察

在实验室自然变温条件下 ,对黄粉虫 (TenebriomolitorL )龄期及其生活习性进行了初步观察 ,发现黄粉虫成虫寿命为 (45 72± 8 5 3)d ,羽化后 3～ 5d就能产卵 ;卵全天都能孵化 ,孵化率高达 88 2 4 % ,卵期为 (5 74± 0 4 4)d .幼虫历期为 (10 4 4 6± 9 79)d ,共 13龄 ,各龄历期差别明显 ;幼虫低龄时生长较慢 ,高龄及老熟幼虫生长较快 ;在幼虫生长期内以 6 0～ 6 5日龄的幼虫体重增长最快 ,平均每天每头虫可增长 4 0 91mg .蛹的历期相对较短 ,仅为 (7 73± 0 83)d .     

经济昆虫黄粉虫与大麦虫研究进展

黄粉虫（Tenebrio molitor L．）是一种重要的蛋白质资源昆虫,其幼虫具有很高的营养价值,可用作动物饲料。目前,国内在黄粉虫的饲养、开发和利用方面已经取得成功,获得了很大的经济效益。大麦虫是近两年刚才国外引进的一种新的蛋白源昆虫,作为昆虫养殖新秀,其营养价值比黄粉虫更高,但目前国内尚未见到对其深入细致研究的报道。本文重点综述了黄粉虫在生物学、饲养条件以及开发利用的研究进展,以期为大麦虫的研究提供参考。     

发酵鹌鹑粪便饲养黄粉虫的研究

研究鹌鹑粪便发酵后饲养黄粉虫的技术,探索将养殖污染变饲料资源的有效途径。EM发酵时添加粪便重量6%的玉米和麦麸可以取得良好的发酵效果,在使用发酵鹌鹑粪便饲养黄粉虫时再添加10%的玉米为宜。结果表明,利用鹌鹑粪便发酵后饲养黄粉虫技术切实可行,应该在生产中进行推广。