Abstract
Insects are attracting increased attention in western countries as a protein source for feed and food industries. Currently, insect farmers use high-quality (cereal-based) diets. Part of the ingredients in these diets can also be used directly in food applications. To avoid competition and improve the sustainable and economical aspect of insect rearing, a search for alternative insect diets is ongoing. Side-streams from the agri-food sector offer potential. The lesser mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus) is an insect that is commercially reared on large scale for food application. The current paper reports on six agri-food side-streams that were included in the diet of the lesser mealworm. The impact of 29 diets (single side-streams or mixtures) on the larvae growth was evaluated by monitoring the larval yield, efficiency of conversion of ingested feed, and larval weight. The larvae were able to grow on all diets, but differences in growth were observed. Two side-streams, wheat middlings and rapeseed meal, were proven to support good larval performance when used as a single ingredient. A combination of these two with brewery grains as moisture source provided (1) the best larval growth and (2) the most economically profitable diet. In conclusion, this study illustrates successful rearing of the lesser mealworm on side-stream-based diets.
Highlights
During the last decades, a growing trend towards recycling and minimizing waste is noticeable.The European Commission stimulates this trend by encouraging the consideration of ‘waste’(comprising agri-food side-streams) as a new resource via re-use and recycling [1]
The calculated percentage of larval yield, percentage larval weight, and percentage bioconversion efficiency (BE) are reported in Table 3, along with the trial number and the relative amount of provided feed
The impact of side-stream inclusions (DDGS, rapeseed meal, corn gluten feed, and rice bran) in a reference diet on the rearing of LM was evaluated by monitoring different growth parameters, these being larval yield, BE, and weight per larvae after 14 days and 28 days of rearing
Summary
A growing trend towards recycling and minimizing waste is noticeable.The European Commission stimulates this trend by encouraging the consideration of ‘waste’(comprising agri-food side-streams) as a new resource via re-use and recycling [1]. Side-streams that are not usable for food applications can be converted, by insects, to a new raw material for food and/or feed applications. Because of the lower feed-to-edible biomass conversion ratio of insects compared to other livestock animals (about 4.7 for the yellow mealworm (YM) and lesser mealworm (LM), reared on side-streams [3,4] versus 24 for beef [5]), insects are a promising protein source for the future [5]. The larvae of the black soldier fly, the common housefly, and larvae of mealworm species from the Tenebrionidae family are seen as promising insects for industrial rearing and were proven to be very efficient in reducing the volume of organic remains [5,6]
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