Can dried mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) larvae replace fish meal in weaned pigs?

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study was conducted to determine the influence of substitution of fish meal with dried mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) larvae on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profiles and fecal noxious gas emission in weaned pigs. A total of 240 crossbred weaned pigs [(Yorkshire × Landrace) × Duroc] at 22 d of age with an average body weight (BW) of 6.90 ± 0.03 kg were randomly allocated into 3 treatments with 8 replicates per treatment and 10 pigs per replicate (pen) according to BW. Dietary treatments included: 1) CON, basal diet with 2% fish meal; 2) T1, basal diet with 1% fish meal and 1% dried mealworm (Tenebrio molitor); T2, basal diet with 2% dried mealworm (Tenebrio molitor). During d 0-7, weaned pigs fed T2 diet had higher (P 0.05) red blood cells, white blood cells, lymphocyte, total protein, blood urea nitrogen, insulin-like growth factor or immunoglobulin G and fecal ammonia, hydrogen sulfide or total mercaptans emission. Taken together, the dried mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) larvae did not outperform the fish meal in this study.