In order to use insect meal as animal feed, it must be processed and defatted in different ways. Various thermal / mechanical processes are used for this. From the field of soy pretreatment (toasting) it is known that excessive pretreatment can have negative effects on animals, or that it can have economic consequences for feed manufacturers in the form of amino acid addition.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of partial or total replacement of soybean oil by black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) fat obtained using super-critical extraction with CO2 on the growth performance and coefficients of apparent nutrient digestibility of young turkey poults. A total of 216 seven-day-old female turkeys (B.U.T. 6) were randomly allocated to 3 dietary treatments contained 6 replications (12 birds each). The birds were kept in floor pens from day 7 till 35 d of age. The following treatments were applied: SO – 100 % of soybean oil, HI50 – 50% of BSFL fat and 50% of SO, and HI100 – 100% of BSFL fat. The body weight gain (BWG) and feed intake (FI) were measured, and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) was calculated on days 21 and 35. Coefficients of apparent ileal digestibility of crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), and apparent metabolizable energy corrected to zero nitrogen balance (AMEN) in turkeys were calculated relative to the ratio of TiO2. The selected internal organ weight in relation to body weight (BW) (% of BW), and lengths in relation to BW (cm/kg BW), were measured. The digesta samples from the duodenum were collected for pancreatic enzyme examination, i.e., lipase and trypsin (d35). The obtained results of soybean oil replacement by BSFL fat confirmed previous experiments carried out on broiler chickens. The partial or total replacement by BSFL oil have shown similar growth performance results to the SO treatment in the 7-35d period. It stays in agreement with the coefficients of nutrients digestibility which were not affected (P>0.05) by the BSFL. However, trypsin activity was decreased (P=0.002) by BSFL100. Moreover, the addition of BSFL fat to the turkey's diet did not affect (P>0.05) selected internal organ weights, as well as the gastrointestinal tract length. In conclusion, the BSFL fat may be an alternative source of energy used in young turkey nutrition. This study was performed in the frame of the IN-OIL project: An innovative method for bio-conversion of by- products from food processing industry that was financed by the National Centre for Research and Development within the LIDER VII Programme No. 0148/L-7/2015.

For several years, feed manufacturers are searching for new sources of proteins in order to respond to the growth of the sector and the challenges of sustainable development. At the same time, more than 30% of the world agricultural production is wasted (unsold or expired products, by-products of agri-food industries). Recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), insects make it possible to valorize food waste (bioconversion). The black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) represents a particularly adapted resource to feed fish because it is natural, safe, sustainably produced and has a good nutritional quality. The objective of the study carried out between December 2018 and May 2019 is to evaluate the zootechnical performances of juveniles trouts when a part of fishmeal is replaced by a partially defatted black soldier fly (BSF) meal at different inclusion levels in comparison to a conventional feed (CTRL) and a feed containing another insect, the mealworm (TM). A BSF meal, produced by a French company, is incorporated in feeds of different sizes (1,2 mm; 2 mm) and at different inclusion rates (5 to 25%), as replacement material for fishmeal. These feeds have been used to feed rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) from 7 grams to 65 grams (86 days of trial). All results were positive. Trouts fed with feeds containing BSF meal showed faster growth and better feed conversion ratios than the CTRL group fish. It therefore seems possible to replace a significant portion (up to 60%) of fishmeal by BSF meal. At equivalent fishmeal replacement rate, results with BSF meal are superior (+7% mean body weight) than results with TM meal (non-significant). Other trials in experimental stations and in fish farms showed that the replacement of a part of the fishmeal by a BSF meal improves the growth performance of the rainbow trout during the growing period (120g-350g).

The dietary inclusion levels of fishmeal as a major protein source in aquafeeds are decreasing due to its stagnant availability in the global market, its rising price and the environmental concerns that are linked to its production. Moreover, as aquaculture further develops and intensifies, the need for alternative protein sources in aquafeeds becomes more intense. The use of insect meals for the replacement of fishmeal in aquafeeds has attracted the research interest, especially after their recent approval in the European aquafeed chain. Among the insect species used so far, most studies have been conducted with Tenebrio molitor and Hermetia illucens. However, other species that have not yet been studied extensively could also be proved suitable for fishmeal replacements. The giant mealworm, Zophobas morio, is a large tenebrionid beetle species, with high nutritive value, which is commonly reared as feed for birds and reptiles. In the present study, we examined the suitability of Z. morio as fishmeal replacer in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) diet. Seabream is amongst the most important marine fish species reared in Europe with an annual world production of around 160,000 mt. Z. morio larvae were raised in a mixture of wheat bran (90%) and egg layer hens feed (10%). Late-instar larvae were collected, dried and milled, in order to produce the Z. morio larvae meal (12% moisture, 41% crude protein, 39% crude lipid) used in the feeding trial. A total number of 270 S. aurata juveniles of 3.4g initial mean weight were allocated into 9 glass tanks (125L) within a closed recirculation seawater system and divided into 3 dietary groups in triplicates, each feeding on a different diet. Three isonitrogenous (52%) and isoenergetic (20 Mj/Kg) diets were formulated at which the fishmeal protein of the control diet was replaced by the Z. morio meal at 5% and 10). Fish were fed to satiation twice a day, 6 days per week for 100 days in total. High survival rates, reaching 99%, were recorded in all groups. In addition, no significant differences were noted among all fish groups for feed intake, final weights, specific growth rates and FCR. These findings suggest that Z. morio is an attractive feedstuff that could successfully replace fishmeal protein in seabream’s diet at 10%. The study was funded by “Operational Programme Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation 2014-2020 (EPAnEK)” of Hellenic Republic.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of partial or full replacement of soybean oil by Hermetia illucens fat (HI) obtained via super-critical CO2 extraction on the growth performance and nutrients digestibility of broiler chickens. In an experiment, lasted 35 d 1-day-old male broilers (Ross 308) were used. The birds were assigned to 5 groups per 10 replicates (16 birds per rep). Food and water were supplied ad libitum. The following design of the experiment was used, SO - control treatment with 100% soybean oil; HI25, 50, 75, 100 - experimental treatments with partial, i.e., 25, 50, 75 or full 100 replacement of soybean oil by HI fat. TiO2 (0.3%) as an internal marker was used. The growth performance parameters, i.e., body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI) were measured and feed conversion ratio (FCR) was calculated at 14, 21, 28, and 35 d, as well as coefficients of apparent ileal digestibility of nutrients, were calculated at 35 d of age. In general, there were no statistically significant differences (P>0.05) between control SO and experimental groups in terms of BWG, FI, as well as FCR. Only in the first two weeks (1-14 d) HI oil positively decreased FI (P<0.001), and FCR (P=0.031) values in comparison to SO control group. However, in the case of FCR the most efficient were groups with 75% or 100% of H. illucens fat in the broiler diets. The results of digestibility calculation at 35 d were not affected by H. illucens fat, in terms of crude protein (P=0.854), ether extract (P=0.203), as well as AMEN (P=0.810). Whereas, the weights of selected gastrointestinal tract segments were reduced, i.e., jejunum (P<0.001), ileum (P<0.001) by H. illucens fat addition to the broiler diets. Present data suggest that soybean oil may be replaced by H. illucens without negative effects on the growth performance during 35 d rearing. This work was financed by the National Centre for Research and Development within the LIDER VII Programme No. LIDER/5/0148/L-7/15/NCBR/2016, titled “IN OIL project: An innovative method for bio-conversion of byproducts from food processing industry”.

The use of soybean as a feed ingredient for livestock is controversially discussed worldwide, since cultivation and transport may have negative environmental impacts. Thus, interest in integrating insects into livestock nutrition as a potentially more sustainable substitute for soybean is huge, but has been poorly researched so far. This study aimed to examine the feeding value of two origins of black soldier fly (BSF) larvae grown on two different substrates (A and B) compared to soybean-based diets. For this purpose, 50 Lohmann Brown Classic hens (40 weeks of age) were fed five different diets for 7 weeks. The hens were randomly allocated to the diets and kept individually in enriched cages under controlled climate conditions. To determine whether the protein value of the insect material is comparable to that of soybean, the crude protein content of four of the diets (SS-, AA-, AB-, BB- ) was set to a level (<15% in DM) which was slightly deficient (recommended: >16%). These diets were opposed to a control diet (SS) covering requirements. Both SS and SS- contained 15% soybean cake and 3% soybean oil, but SS- did not contain sunflower cake. In the other diets the soybean-based feeds from SS- were replaced by defatted BSF larval meals and fats. Insect material A was produced on a mixture of fruits, brewer’s grain and pasta production waste, material B was produced on wheat bran, French fries and cereal millers offal. Diet AA- contained 15% of larval meal A and 2% larval oil A, AB- was based on 15% larval meal A and 2% larval fat B, and BB- contained 15% of larval meal B (rich in residual fat). Feed intake, laying performance and egg weight were measured daily. The hens were weighed weekly. Over a period of six days all eggs per hen were collected and analyzed for different egg quality traits. The performance of the hens did not differ significantly between the five treatments within the feeding period. Average feed intake was around 118 g/day, laying percentage 95%, egg weight 65 g and feed conversion efficiency 1.9 g egg/kg feed. Also egg quality was neither affected by the use of insects nor the apparent protein deficiency. Average shell thickness was 0.4 mm, yolk height 17 mm and shell breaking strenght 50 N. Overall, the similar performance of the hens at a very high production level and the comparable egg quality showed that soybean can be completely replaced by BSF meal and fat. The results also indicated that the recommendations for protein supply of layers may be set too high.

In companion animal nutrition one of the most important factors affecting feed market trends is nutritional preferences of pets, owners observations as well as the sustainability of the product. Due to that pet foods should be based on well accepted by animals and owners feed ingredients. The group of components which meets these requirements are insect meals. Thus for direct assessment of their acceptance in the guppy, a free choice feeding experiment was performed. In a ten-day-long experiment using the free choice model were applied. A flock of 60 sexually mature P. reticulata. The animals were randomly divided into 4 identical experimental tanks with a capacity of 32 litres (30 cm x 30 cm x 35 cm) using 15 individuals in each. Aquariums were equipped with mechanical filtration with a water flow of 200 l/h. The animals were kept in thermal optimum, with a photoperiod of 16 hours of light: 8 hours of darkness. The fish were subjected to a 5-day preliminary period, then they were held observation by 5 days of food preferences. As the assessed components, full-fat insect meals were used, with pork gelatin and fish meal as the control treatments. The species of insects used for meals preparation were: madagascar cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa), superworm (Zophobas morio), black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens). The applied components were solidified using pork gelatin in a ratio of 3:2. To avoid the effect of neophobia the results from the first day of experiments were excluded from the final results of the experiment. In the following days the attractivity of feeds was observed during periods of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 minutes after offering them to animals. The experiment showed that the most accepted, among all offered components was superworm (Zophobas morio) The fish interest in madagascar cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa), superworm (Zophobas morio), black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) meals were comparable to fish meal. Pork gelatin was not assessed as attractive for guppies. Poecilia reticulata have high food selectivity, among of the tested feed components Zophobas morio full fat meal can be recommended as an attractive ingredient to aquarium fish feeds This work was supported by several sources: the funds of Pozna University of Life Sciences; TEAM TECH/2016-2/11-0026, a project entitled: Insects as novel protein sources for fish and poultry, financed by Foundation of Polish Science (POIR 4.4); as well as founds of the National Centre for Research and Development, no POIR.01.01.01-00-0828/15, entitled: InnSecta: innovative technology of feedstuffs production based on insect biomass

Introduction Insect meals are a promising source of protein and fat for feeds used in aquaculture. It should be underlined that in fish, as well as, in other animals’ dietary protein and fat composition have a crucial impact on microbiota composition and the beneficial of harmful relation among the host and microbial populations. Moreover, insects are being widely discussed as a source of antimicrobial peptides (AMP) which exhibit activity against pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and viruses, they contain chitin also which is considered a prebiotic compound. Materials and Methods The 60 day – the long experiment was performed on sea trout (Salmo trutta m. trutta) fingerlings. The animals were fed with three experimental diets: control diet (CON) with fishmeal (25%) as the only source of animal protein; TMD: 14,5 % of fishmeal and 10% of hydrolyzed Tenebrio molitor meal; and ZMD: 14% of fishmeal and 10% of hydrolyzed Zophobas morio meal. At the end of the trial, the fish were euthanized, the samples of the gastrointestinal content were collected and immediately stored at –80ºC for Fluorescent In Situ Hybridisation. The analysis was performed according to Józefiak et al., (2011) with the use of oligonucleotide probes selected from the literature labeled with fluorochromes. The filters were left at -80°C for 24 h until visualization with the use of a Carl Zeiss Axio Imager M2 Microscope. The numbers of detected bacteria are expressed in colony-forming units/g of digesta (CFU/ml). All obtained data were tested for normal distribution using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Analysis of variance was conducted using Bartlett’s test. The significance of differences among groups was determined by Duncan’s multiple range tests at the significance level of P ≤ 0.05. The calculations were tested using SAS 9.3 software. Results The use of both insect meals affected the microbiota of the gastrointestinal tract by decreasing bacterial numbers. The inclusion of Tenebrio molitor meal lowered the concentration of Carnobacterium spp. as well as Lactobacillus group. In the case of Zophobas morio use the inhibiting properties were found in the case of Aeromonas spp., Carnobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus group. The total number of bacteria, as well as Bacillus spp, did not exhibit any significant differences among treatments. Conclusions The results show the possibility of fish microbiota modification by the use of full-fat insect meals. The lowered numbers of bacterial groups may be the effect of both inhibiting properties of antimicrobial peptides, as well as the prebiotic features of chitin. The result which should be underlined is the decrease of Aeromonas spp. population – commonly known fish pathogen in population in ZMD treatment. The results of the study suggest that insect meals may be used not only as protein and fat sources but as a functional ingredient also. The antimicrobiological properties of Zophobas morio and Tenebrio molitor meals suggest that they should be considered for further use in aquaculture.