by
Martin Zorrilla, Head of R&D, Nutrition Technologies, UK
“Insects can be a feed ingredient”. Over the past decade this statement has gone from fringe proposal to a widely accepted fact. While research on six-legged feed has been around since the early 1980s, recent academic papers and signs of rapid private sector progress has popularised the concept.
However, the focal point of this progress has been narrow, with insects seen
mostly as a pure fishmeal replacement, rather than a novel ingredient in their
own right, with a range of functional benefits. There is of course a good
reason for this. Fishmeal prices have been on an upward trend for the past
couple of decades, and currently the market is experiencing extreme volatility
and uncertainty. This alone has been enough for many to dedicate time and
resources to alternative proteins.
However, a huge area of application that is often overlooked is the potential impact on animal health and performance for swine and poultry, as well as fish and crustaceans.
Insects, such as the Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL), have a well-balanced amino acid profile which is capable of replacing fishmeal in carnivorous fish diets with far greater success than plant proteins. For example, in 2011, Sealey et al. found that BSFL meal can successfully replace up to 50 percent of the fishmeal in Rainbow trout diets.
However, focusing on the amino acid profile of insects understates the novelty of the innovation on our threshold. While traditional insect cultivation dates back 3,200 years, it is only in the past decade that high volume production has coincided with serious research on the effects of diets containing insectmeal.
This is despite the fact that insects make up the natural diet of so many of our livestock and aquaculture species in the wild. In effect, when we add insects to animal feed we are re-introducing our domesticated animals to their historical food sources. If we swap out fishmeal for insectmeal in poultry feed we are not ‘replacing fishmeal’, we are doing away with an insect-replacement and using the real thing.
Unsurprisingly, natural diets make for healthy animals. Recent research on the functional benefits of insect-based feed have confirmed that significant impacts can be had for pig and poultry gut health, growth performance, and disease resistance. In 2015, Park et al. discovered a novel Antimicrobial Peptide (AMP) in the BSFL gut that inhibits a range of bacteria. Follow-up studies have confirmed that these AMPs can inhibit E. coli, S. aureus, and even fungi such as the plant pathogen Rhizoctonia solani. In a 2016 review Jozefiak and coauthors were very positive about the implications: “Insect antimicrobial peptides provide great hope due to the increasing global problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.”
Read the full article, HERE.
Visit the Nutrition Technologies UK website, HERE.
“Insects can be a feed ingredient”. Over the past decade this statement has gone from fringe proposal to a widely accepted fact. While research on six-legged feed has been around since the early 1980s, recent academic papers and signs of rapid private sector progress has popularised the concept.
 |
| Nutri-Tec BSF leaves Image credit: Nutrition Technologies UK |
However, a huge area of application that is often overlooked is the potential impact on animal health and performance for swine and poultry, as well as fish and crustaceans.
Insects, such as the Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL), have a well-balanced amino acid profile which is capable of replacing fishmeal in carnivorous fish diets with far greater success than plant proteins. For example, in 2011, Sealey et al. found that BSFL meal can successfully replace up to 50 percent of the fishmeal in Rainbow trout diets.
However, focusing on the amino acid profile of insects understates the novelty of the innovation on our threshold. While traditional insect cultivation dates back 3,200 years, it is only in the past decade that high volume production has coincided with serious research on the effects of diets containing insectmeal.
This is despite the fact that insects make up the natural diet of so many of our livestock and aquaculture species in the wild. In effect, when we add insects to animal feed we are re-introducing our domesticated animals to their historical food sources. If we swap out fishmeal for insectmeal in poultry feed we are not ‘replacing fishmeal’, we are doing away with an insect-replacement and using the real thing.
Unsurprisingly, natural diets make for healthy animals. Recent research on the functional benefits of insect-based feed have confirmed that significant impacts can be had for pig and poultry gut health, growth performance, and disease resistance. In 2015, Park et al. discovered a novel Antimicrobial Peptide (AMP) in the BSFL gut that inhibits a range of bacteria. Follow-up studies have confirmed that these AMPs can inhibit E. coli, S. aureus, and even fungi such as the plant pathogen Rhizoctonia solani. In a 2016 review Jozefiak and coauthors were very positive about the implications: “Insect antimicrobial peptides provide great hope due to the increasing global problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics.”
Read the full article, HERE.
Visit the Nutrition Technologies UK website, HERE.
The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.
For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com
No comments:
Post a Comment