Feed & Additive Magazine Issue 2 March 2021

SPECIAL STORY 56 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE March 2021 INSECT-BASED Protein Sources INSECT MEALS IN ANIMAL FEEDS A Real Alternative to Conventional Protein Carriers? Insect proteins are expected to take a relevant position in the animal feed market and especially in the aquaculture sector since the EU lifted the ban on insect proteins in 2017 for the use in fish feeds. A new industry that was already in the starting blocks developed even faster since then. Larvae from several insects are in the focus of research and industry with strong concentration on very few species. A ccording to the Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/893 within the European Union seven insect species (or their larvae, respectively) are al- lowed to be used exclusively in aquaculture feed for- mulations. These are: Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia il- lucens), Common Housefly (Musca domestica), two mealworm species and three cricket species. This list may be amended in the future upon application. Spe- cies like the Silk Worm (Bombyx mori), Super Worm (Zophobas morio) or locusts might be candidates as they are widely used in countries outside of the EU and are discussed as valuable and potential feed ingre- dients widely in the literature. The admission for the use of insect-protein in poultry feeds is still pending on EU-level but in France insect-oil-fed chicken is available in supermarkets since summer 2020. For aquaculture- and poultry feed purposes, re- spectively the larvae of the black soldier fly, H. il- lucens, housefly, M. domestica and the larvae of the meal beetle, Tenebrio molitor might be the best in- vestigated (and most used) organism, due to their quite simple life cycles. They also show suitable protein profiles (H. ilucens, M. domestica) and fat profiles (T. molitor) and simple engineering require- ments for mass production. Crickets and locusts are investigated and produced for food consumption in many areas of the world. In the western world they are produced at high production costs which exclude them from the animal feed market. THE DREAM OF COMPLETE FISH MEAL- AND SOY MEAL REPLACEMENT AND SOME OPEN QUESTIONS Initially started in the United States in the 1980s with research on the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) for rea- sons of poultry waste treatment, the idea to use in- sect larvae as animal feeds was reactivated with the beginning of the 21st century. Since then, the animal feed aspect spread quickly – especially in the aqua- culture feed sector. Since the percentage of fish meal in most aquacul- ture compound feeds decreased in the last two decades in favour of soy bean meal, cereals, etc. the use of an- imal-based alternatives is discussed more intensively. This is due to the fact that the use of just plant-based feed ingredients is limited physiologically, especially for carnivore fish – though completely vegetarian feeds had been developed and tested for trout, recently. But Dr. Andreas Stamer Six-Legs-Consulting, Germany