Abstract
Animal food sources provide human beings with minerals considerably in adequate quantities. Fish is an indispensable reliable source of nutrients, as aquaculture is a sector that is fast growing and which provides 50% of the world’s fish production. However, fish production is hampered by the increasing costs of feeds due to the ever rising cost of fish meal, an integral component of fish feeds. Substituting fish meal with cheap, yet highly nutritious ingredients in fish feeds is therefore paramount. This study investigated the effects of substituting fish meal with adult cricket meal (ACM) and black soldier fly meal (BSFM) on minerals content of extruded fish feeds, where four levels of substitution (0, 25, 50 and 75%) were used. The effect of feed moisture content on minerals was also studied where 20 and 30% feed moisture levels were used. Leaching effects of the pellets were studied as well. The results showed a significant increase (P < 0.05) in the levels of phosphorus and potassium as the level of fish meal substitution increased from 0 to 75%. On the other hand, iron and sodium levels reduced significantly (P < 0.05) as the level of fish meal substitution increased. Magnesium content increased with increasing level of substitution with BSFM, but decreased with increasing level of substitution with ACM. Copper, zinc and manganese were not greatly influenced by levels of fish meal substitution. Diets that had zero substitution showed higher leaching effect for most minerals than diets that were substituted with 75% ACM or BSFM. This study found that both ACM and BSFM can be used to substitute fish meal in fish feeds and obtain adequate mineral profile and low leaching effect.
Highlights
Food insecurity is a threat to many nations, especially the developing countries
The high values of phosphorus recorded in black soldier fly meal (BSFM)-based diets can be attributed to the fact that BSFM had the highest amounts of phosphorus in comparison to adult cricket meal (ACM) and freshwater shrimp meal (FWSM) (Table 2)
The decrease in calcium amounts as the level of substitution increased is attributed to the high values of calcium that are found in FWSM in comparison to BSFM and ACM (Table 2)
Summary
Food insecurity is a threat to many nations, especially the developing countries. 10.9% of the world’s population (795 million people) is undernourished. Nutrients from animal food sources are more bio-available than most plant sources (Trumpo et al 2001). Fish is one such source that provides 17% of animal protein to the world’s population (Halden et al 2014). There is the need to identify better alternatives to fishmeal Insects such as crickets (Acheta domesticus) and black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) have that potential (FAO 2013; Bondari and Sheppard 1981; Makkar et al 2014), due to their high nutritional profile (Henry et al 2015; FAO 2010; van Huis 2013), high bio-conversion ratio (Barroso et al 2014) and their ability to produce less greenhouse gases and to be reared on less land area (Oonincx et al 2010)
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