Abstract
Abstract The aim of this review is to discuss the usage of insect fats as an energy source in animal nutrition. Insects are a rich carrier of proteins, fat, and minerals. They are successfully introduced in animal diets (poultry, swine, rabbits, fish, and pets) as a source of many nutrients, including energy and essential fatty acids (FAs). The insects’ fat content and quality are highly affected by the type of substrate provided to the insects during the rearing period. The majority of the studies have shown that insect fats may be used as promising substitutes for conventional energy resources in animal nutrition without adverse effects on growth performance and feed utilization. They can positively affect meat quality by increasing the level of long-chain polyunsaturated FAs but may also positively influence animals by regulating the gut microbiota and stimulating the immune system. In conclusion, insect fat supplementation showed promising results in terms of their application in animal nutrition. However, compared to insect protein application, very few studies have been performed on insect fats. Therefore, because of the fat quality and content of insects, there is a need to extend experimentation regarding their implementation in animals’ diets as a replacement for conventional dietary energy resources.
Highlights
Fats and oils are supplemented in livestock diets to increase the dietary energy level to meet the daily nutrient requirements and are considered an essential nutrient for all animal species (Ravindran et al, 2016)
Oonincx et al (2019) conducted an experiment on H. illucens larvae with four dietary treatments of 0%, 1%, 2%, and 4% addition of flaxseed oil, which is a well-known source of omega 3 fatty acids, to the substrate and found that the amount of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) was significantly decreased while the amounts of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) significantly increased in treatments with flaxseed oils compared to those without
In a recently conducted study in our research group (Benzertiha et al, 2019), we demonstrated that total replacement of palm oil and poultry fat by T. molitor oil did not have any negative effects on the growth performance traits for the whole period of the trial (7 to 30 d)
Summary
Larvae larvae larvae larvae larvae larvae laying hen feed (60%), fish meal (40%) (after 0 min of feeding) laying hen feed (60%), fish meal (40%) (after 3 hours of feeding) laying hen feed (60%), fish meal (40%) (4 days of feeding) chicken layer mash (100%) chicken layer mash (50%) and fish offal (50%) wheat bran. 7.75 larvae larvae larvae larvae larvae larvae wheat bran (25%), carrots (25%), cabbages (25%), potatoes (25%) fruit waste winery byproduct brewery byproduct (barley brewers’ grains wet) celery (43.4%), oranges (28.9%) and peppers (27.7%) vegetable byproducts substrate. 0.79 8.23 Renna et al, 2017 larvae brewery byproduct (barley brewers’ grains wet) larvae celery (43.4%), oranges (28.9%) and peppers (27.7%) larvae vegetable byproducts substrate prepupae layer hen feed (100%). 64.82 19.08 9.64 8.04 prepupae vegetable waste (carrots, peas, salsify and celery). 78.29 11.99 9.43 8.0 prepupae ground corn (50%), dehydrated alfalfa (30%), wheat bran (20%) 33.0. 79.58 10.55 9.87 prepupae ground barley (68%), wheat bran (20%), dehydrated alfalfa (12%). 86.89 8.49 4.62 prepupae wheat middlings (50%), wheat straw (24%), ground barley (16%), dehydrated alfalfa (10%). Prepupae wheat middlings (55%), ground barley (15%), dehydrated alfalfa 32.5 (30%). NA: not analyzed; SFA: saturated fatty acids; MUFA: monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA: polyunsaturated fatty acids
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