62 SEPTEMBER 2017 • WORLD AQUACULTURE • WWW.WAS.ORG undesirable carbohydrates and anti-nutritional factors, such as trypsin inhibitors, saponins and phytate, have unbalanced amino acid profiles, and lack taurine and cholesterol. These negative qualities of plantbased ingredients give insect meals certain advantages but insect ingredients are not free of flaws either because they have certain compounds that can limit their inclusion levels in diets, such as chitin, a structural carbohydrate of insect exoskeleton. In addition, some insect meals contain high amounts of fat. For more than a decade, several companies have been producing insects for animal feed and human consumption in North America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. Researchers have conducted numerous studies on the utilization of insects as feed ingredients for aquaculture, poultry, swine, and other species worldwide. Although there are a few insect producers in the U.S., the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is still debating the regulation of insect protein in animal diets. In contrast, the European Union has been proactive, recently authorizing the use of insect ingredients in aquafeeds, and plan to authorize insects as an approved ingredient in poultry feed by 2020. It is anticipated that this significant achievement for the insect producing industry will stimulate growth and reduce production costs of insect ingredients for both the aquaculture and poultry industries in Europe going forward. Black Soldier Fly Meal in Aquafeeds Black soldier fly Hermetia illucens is an insect with a short life cycle of about one month and that is easy to culture. Black soldier fly larvae (BF) are very efficient composters, rapidly consuming agricultural and food waste, accruing protein (44 percent), fat (36 percent), anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals in its body, and returning vital nutrients to the soil and environment. Oceanic Institute of Hawai’i Pacific University (OI), in a collaboration with Prota Culture LLC, and with financial support from USDA’s Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture (CTSA), has made important progress in evaluating the potential use of black soldier fly larvae meal (BFm) in aquaculture diets. Trials to reduce fat content and assess shelf life of BF under various environmental conditions have been conducted with promising results. The quality of proteinrich BFm after six months of storage at room temperature remained high, indicating excellent stability. The BFm has a nearly 1:1 ratio of essential and non-essential amino acids, including good levels of the limiting amino acids lysine (2.1 percent), methionine (0.7 percent), and histidine (1.1 percent). These results are not statistically different Low-fat black soldier fly larvae meal. Shrimp feed manufactured with 30 percent low-fat black soldier fly larvae meal.
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