Feeding value of black soldier fly larvae compared to soybean in methionine- and lysine-deficient laying hen diets

To increase the sustainability of egg production, alternatives to soybean in poultry nutrition are intensively searched for. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) could have a great potential, but the comparative protein value to soybean is not well known. The main objective of this study was to facilitate this comparison by using experimental diets clearly limited in calculated supply of sulphurous amino acids and lysine. Fifty laying hens (Lohmann Brown Classic), aged 40 weeks, were fed one of five diets for 7 weeks (n=10). Two diets were based on soybean cake and oil (SS, SS-) as protein and energy sources, and three diets contained partially defatted BSFL meal and fat from two different origins (AA-, AB-, BB-). Different from SS, all other diets were designed to be deficient in methionine and lysine in relation to requirements by >20%. The realised supply with total sulphurous amino acids and lysine was indeed superior with SS even though this diet was analysed to be more deficient in methionine than the BSFL-based diets. Despite the calculated deficiency in limiting amino acids, laying performance of the hens of all groups was similar and ranged between 93 and 97%. Similarly, egg mass, daily feed intake and feed efficiency were not influenced by the BSFL-based diets. The yolks of group BB- were more intensely coloured compared to the others indicating a difference between BSFL origins. Yolks of SS-, but not of the BSFL-based diets, had lower contents of dry matter and ether extract than those of SS. Including BSFL into the diet did not influence the odour of the eggs tested in scrambled form. The results show that soybean-based feeds for laying hens may be completely replaced by BSFL- based feeds and suggest that the recommendations for amino acid supply of laying hens might need revision

Black soldier fly larvae as a substitute for soybean in the diets of laying hens

The use of soybean as a feed ingredient for livestock is controversially discussed worldwide, since cultivation and transport may have negative environmental impacts. Thus, interest in integrating insects into livestock nutrition as a potentially more sustainable substitute for soybean is very important, but has been poorly researched so far. This study aimed to examine the feeding value of two origins of black soldier fly (BSF) larvae grown on two different substrates (A and B) compared to soybeanbased diets. For this purpose, 50 Lohmann Brown Classic hens (40 weeks of age) were fed five different diets for 7 weeks. The hens were randomly allocated to the diets and kept individually in enriched cages under controlled climate conditions. To determine whether the protein value of the insect material is comparable to that of soybean, the crude protein content of four of the diets (SS-, AA-, AB-, BB-) was set to a level (16%). These diets were opposed to a control diet (SS) covering requirements. Both SS and SS- contained 15% soybean cake and 3% soybean oil, but SS- did not contain sunflower cake. In the other diets the soybean-based feeds from SS- were replaced by defatted BSF larval meals and fats. Insect material A was produced on a mixture of fruits, brewer’s grain and pasta production waste, material B was produced on wheat bran, French fries and cereal milling by-products. Diet AA- contained 15% of larval meal A and 2% larval oil A, AB- was based on 15% larval meal A and 2% larval fat B, and BB- contained 15% of larval meal B (rich in residual fat). Feed intake, laying performance and egg weight were measured daily. The hens were weighed weekly. Over a period of six days all eggs per hen were collected and analysed for different egg quality traits. The performance of the hens did not differ significantly between the five treatments within the feeding period. Average feed intake was around 118 g/day, laying percentage 95%, egg weight 65 g and feed conversion efficiency 1.9 g egg/kg feed. Also, egg quality was neither affected by the use of insects nor the apparent protein deficiency. Average shell thickness was 0.4 mm, yolk height 17 mm and shell breaking strength 50 N. Overall, the similar performance of the hens at a very high production level and the comparable egg quality showed that soybean can be completely replaced by BSF meal and fat. The results also indicated that the recommendations for protein supply of layers may be set too high

Black soldier fly larvae meal and fat can completely replace soybean cake and oil in diets for laying hens

Currently, there is a great interest in finding alternative protein and energy sources to replace soybean-based feeds in poultry diets. The main objective of the present study was to completely replace soybean in layer diets with defatted meal and fat from black soldier fly larvae without adverse effects. For this purpose, 5 × 10 Lohmann Brown Classic hens were fed either a soybean-based diet or diets based on defatted black soldier fly larvae meal and fat from 2 producers (1 commercial, 1 small-scale) operating with different rearing substrates, temperatures, and larvae processing methods (10 hens/diet). The data obtained included nutrient composition of larvae meals and diets, amino acid digestibility (6 hens/diet), and metabolizability, performance and egg quality (all 10 hens/diet). In addition, the acceptance of the 4 larvae-based diets was tested against the soybean-based diet in a 6-day choice feeding situation (10 hens/treatment). The nutritional value of the larvae-based diets was equivalent to the soybean-based diet in hens with a laying performance of 98%. Although average feed intake was not significantly different over the 7 experimental weeks, the diets based on larvae feeds from the small-scale production appeared to be slightly less accepted in a choice situation than the soy-based diet and those with larvae from commercial origin. This was more likely the effect of the larvae fat rather than that of the larvae protein meal. In addition, the commercial larvae material was superior to that from the small-scale production concerning supply with digestible sulfur-containing amino acids (548 vs. 511 mg/day) and lysine (792 vs. 693 mg/day), egg weight (67 vs. 63 g), daily egg mass (66 vs. 61 g/day) and, in tendency, feed efficiency. The results indicate that soybean-based feeds can be replaced completely by black soldier fly meal and fat in diets of high-performing layers. However, because of nutritional differences between the larvae materials of different origin the quality of the larvae has to be closely monitored before being used

Observation of an Excited Bc+ State

Using pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.5 fb-1 recorded by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of s=7, 8, and 13 TeV, the observation of an excited Bc+ state in the Bc+π+π- invariant-mass spectrum is reported. The observed peak has a mass of 6841.2±0.6(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, where the last uncertainty is due to the limited knowledge of the Bc+ mass. It is consistent with expectations of the Bc∗(2S31)+ state reconstructed without the low-energy photon from the Bc∗(1S31)+→Bc+γ decay following Bc∗(2S31)+→Bc∗(1S31)+π+π-. A second state is seen with a global (local) statistical significance of 2.2σ (3.2σ) and a mass of 6872.1±1.3(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, and is consistent with the Bc(2S10)+ state. These mass measurements are the most precise to date

Low transfer of cadmium, lead and aflatoxin B1 to eggs and meat of laying hens receiving diets with black soldier fly larvae reared on contaminated substrates

Replacing soybeans with insects in egg and poultry meat production could improve environmental sustainability. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) have a favorable nutrient composition and can be reared on low-grade waste, but this is associated with the risk of feed and food contamination. The aim of this study was to assess the transfer of selected contaminants from larval substrates to poultry-derived food. Two different control substrates were used. Substrate CCH (produced in Switzerland) was based on side streams approved for insect rearing in the European Union (EU), while substrate CIND (produced in Indonesia) included non-EU approved waste. In addition, substrate CIND was spiked with either heavy metals (HM; 1.9 mg cadmium and 18.8 mg lead/kg dry matter (DM)) or 1.5 mg aflatoxin B1/kg DM (AF)). The larvae fed HM contained 7 mg cadmium and 16 mg lead/kg DM. These values were about 30 times the concentrations of cadmium and 30–60 times the concentrations of lead found on average in the BSFL reared with the two non-spiked substrates. Although substrate AF contained 842 μg aflatoxin B1/kg DM as analysed, the AF larvae contained only 4 μg aflatoxin B1/kg DM. Larval meals were integrated at 200 g/kg in two control diets (diets CCH and CIND) and two diets based on contaminated BSFL (diets HM and AF) designed for late-laying hens (n = 9/treatment). After feeding these diets for 4 weeks, the hens were slaughtered. Diet HM and AF did not affect laying performance or egg quality compared with the control diets. In the body tissue, the cadmium concentrations (per kg DM) were nearly doubled by diet HM in the breast meat (13.3 μg), kidneys (12.3 mg) and liver (1.86 mg) compared to diet CIND. The same diet increased lead in kidneys from below 0.1 to 0.5 mg/kg DM. No lead was detected in the meat and eggs, and no cadmium was found in the eggs. In conclusion, despite cadmium and lead also occurring in BSFL meals of CCH and CIND, the levels in all corresponding hen-based feed and food materials were below the maximum content, except for the kidneys. The aflatoxin B1 level of diet AF (1 μg/kg DM) suggests that the risk might also be small when BSFL are reared on moldy substrate containing aflatoxin-producing fungi. In conclusion, postconsumer waste apparently poses a lower risk than expected in poultry food chains for these contaminants when used as larval substrate

Erratum to: Measurement of ϒ production in pp collisions at s√ = 13 TeV

</p

Measurement of b hadron fractions in 13 TeV pp collisions

The production fractions of ¯ B 0 s and Λ 0 b hadrons, normalized to the sum of B − and ¯ B 0 fractions, are measured in 13 TeV p p collisions using data collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.67     fb − 1 . These ratios, averaged over the b hadron transverse momenta from 4 to 25 GeV and pseudorapidity from 2 to 5, are 0.122 ± 0.006 for ¯ B 0 s , and 0.259 ± 0.018 for Λ 0 b , where the uncertainties arise from both statistical and systematic sources. The Λ 0 b ratio depends strongly on transverse momentum, while the ¯ B 0 s ratio shows a mild dependence. Neither ratio shows variations with pseudorapidity. The measurements are made using semileptonic decays to minimize theoretical uncertainties. In addition, the ratio of D + to D 0 mesons produced in the sum of ¯ B 0 and B − semileptonic decays is determined as 0.359 ± 0.006 ± 0.009 , where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic

Measurement of the Charm-Mixing Parameter yCP

A measurement of the charm-mixing parameter y_{CP} using D^{0}→K^{+}K^{-}, D^{0}→π^{+}π^{-}, and D^{0}→K^{-}π^{+} decays is reported. The D^{0} mesons are required to originate from semimuonic decays of B^{-} and B[over ¯]^{0} mesons. These decays are partially reconstructed in a data set of proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV collected with the LHCb experiment and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3  fb^{-1}. The y_{CP} parameter is measured to be (0.57±0.13(stat)±0.09(syst))%, in agreement with, and as precise as, the current world-average value

Observation of the Decay Λ0b→Λ+cτ−¯ν

The first observation of the semileptonic b-baryon decay Λb0→Λc+τ-ν¯τ, with a significance of 6.1σ, is reported using a data sample corresponding to 3 fb-1 of integrated luminosity, collected by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV at the LHC. The τ- lepton is reconstructed in the hadronic decay to three charged pions. The ratio K=B(Λb0→Λc+τ-ν¯τ)/B(Λb0→Λc+π-π+π-) is measured to be 2.46±0.27±0.40, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. The branching fraction B(Λb0→Λc+τ-ν¯τ)=(1.50±0.16±0.25±0.23)% is obtained, where the third uncertainty is from the external branching fraction of the normalization channel Λb0→Λc+π-π+π-. The ratio of semileptonic branching fractions R(Λc+)B(Λb0→Λc+τ-ν¯τ)/B(Λb0→Λc+μ-ν¯μ) is derived to be 0.242±0.026±0.040±0.059, where the external branching fraction uncertainty from the channel Λb0→Λc+μ-ν¯μ contributes to the last term. This result is in agreement with the standard model prediction