The use of larvae of the black soldier fly as a high quality and sustainable protein source in broiler feed

Abstract

The growing scarcity of protein sources for animal feed in the European Union has strongly increased prices in recent years. As a consequence, the industry is looking for alternative protein sources that can be used for animal feed. Several studies have proposed insects as a high quality, efficient and sustainable alternative protein source. A promising insect with a high protein content and short life-cycle is the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens). In this project, we introduced larvae of the black soldier fly in feed for broiler chickens. To this end, the nutritional composition of larvae grown on super market waste was determined. Based on these data, broiler feed was formulated and subsequently the larvae were processed in broiler feed. All feeds were isoenergetic and isonitrogenous for the entire grow up (starter, grower and finisher). About a third of the soybean meal was replaced by the larvae. We evaluated the effect of this insect feed on broilers by assessing their growth performance, health status, meat quality and meat taste and compared the results with a control group that received conventional feed. No significant differences were observed in mean body weight, net carcass weight and feed conversion ratio between broilers that received conventional feed and insect feed. In addition, no significant difference was found between the taste of chicken breast from broilers which were grown on insect feed and grown on conventional feed.status: publishe