Edible insect consumption called entomophagy is very important in ensuring food security especially in a developing country like Nigeria, but promotion of entomophagy after a long period of adoption of western diets demands a comprehensive inventory of edible insect consumption in the past. At present, there is little or no repository of document with comprehensive information on edible insects consumed in the south eastern states of Nigeria and methods of use is also scarce in literature. It becomes imperative to assess edible insect consumption in the region as a background for promotion of entomophagy in the area. The study used questionnaires and oral interviews to obtain information on types of edible insects consumed, season of harvest, cooking methods, local dishes with edible insects, people’s reaction to edible insect consumption, challenges of entomophagy business and ethno-cultural beliefs on edible insect consumption. Of the 2,000 individuals sampled, 56.4% were males, 43.6% females, with 22.4% children, 19.6% teenagers, 24.2% young adults, 16.6% older adults and 17.2% aged above 60 years of age. The result showed that seventeen insect species belonging to six orders were consumed and harvesting is mainly during the rains, though some recorded year round availability. Restricted seasonal availability and high collecting costs are among the reported barriers to edible insect consumption The most common cooking methods documented in the study were frying or roasting. Six traditional dishes were found to include edible insects. Four ethno-cultural beliefs on some edible insects were also documented. Edible insect farming is therefore recommended as a strategy to bridge the gap between insect protein supply and demand in the region.

No abstract

The dearth of animal protein in Nigeria and the need for environmental friendly animal protein productionnecessitates the use of edible insects as an alternative protein source. To ensure the sustainability of edible insects, a cost-effective captive method of rearing needs to be devised. This study was designed to investigate alternative culture media for rearing African palm weevil Rhynchophorus phoenicis under captive management. One hundred and sixty eight palm weevils collected from ‘Mgbo swamp’ in Ebenebe town, Anambra State, were used for the study. The larvae were randomly assigned to eight different culture media (coconut fibre, coconut fibre with palm wine, sawdust of mahogany, sawdust of mahogany with palm wine, palm frond petiole, palm bunch midrib, sugarcanetops (SCT), spoilt watermelon (SWM)). Survivability, growth performance in terms of weight gain and increasein linear body measurements (within 10 weeks) as well as pupation of the larvae (within 35-40 days after the first 10 weeks) were monitored and used as indices of the suitability of each of the culture media. The result showedthat the larva thrived better in SWM and SCT but failed to pupate in SWM. The statistical analysis of the growth performance showed a significant difference (P<0.05) in weight gain in favour of larvae reared in SWM. Numericalvalues for larvae reared in SWM were 8.933±0.1764 and 7.433±0.66 g, respectively. There was no significantdifference (P>0.05) for the linear body measurement: 4.80±0.230 cm body length increases and 1.1±0.058 cm for body width increases for larvae on SWM, while those on SCT recorded 4.183±0.0601 cm body length increasesand 1.033±0.033 cm body width increases. Cocoon formation and pupation was not observed in the larva in the SWM in the 40-day period of observation

Physical body traits of nine grasscutters (Thryonomys swinderianus Temminck)were characterized using body weights (BW), body length (BL), heart girth (HG), and height-at-withers (H). Simple linear correlation matrix showed high, positive and significant values among the parameters studied (P < 0.01). The highest coeffic ent was obtained for body weight and body length (r = 0.9956). The very high associations for body length and heart girth (r = 0.9821) and between body length and height (r = 0.9905) indicate that frame size and absolute height were complementary. Selection for increased measurement in any of the parameter would mean positive significant influence on the other and would lead to increased skeletal stature with concomitant increases in other absolute body measurements. Regression equations from this study could be used to estimate live body weights o grasscutters aged between 2 -10 months. i f

Survivability, growth performance and nutrient composition of the African Palm weevil (APW) (Rhyncophorus phoenicis) reared on four different substrates was investigated following earlier finding that Sugar cane tops (SCT) and Spoilt water melon (SWM) could be useful in captive rearing of the weevil. This necessitated a search into other waste fruits that could be used as media for rearing of APW as their infestation of oil and raffia palm is not only unfriendly to the environment but also wastage of economic resources. The growth and nutrient composition of the larvae in three waste fruits (Not rotten but not fit for human consumption): Spoilt Water Melon (SWM), Ripe Paw paw (RPP), Spoilt Pine apple (SPA) and Sugarcane tops (SCT: Off Cut from the tip of sugarcane) were compared in this study. One hundred and twenty newly emerged APW larvae of similar weights collected from "Mgbo swamp" in Ebenebe town, Anambra State, Nigeria, were used for the study which lasted for ten weeks. Thirty larvae were randomly assigned to each of the treatments (Culture media). The experiment was designed on a 4 x 3 Completely Randomized Designed, whereby each treatment had 30 APW larvae in three replicates of 10 larvae per replicate. The larvae were housed in plastic bowls of 30cm diameter and 40cm height. The bottom part of each bowl was perforated to let out moisture and the top covered with mosquito net to avoid flies. The substrates in each housing unit were removed and replaced with fresh ones on weekly basis to minimize microbial attack. Survivability, growth performance in terms of weight gain and increase in linear body measurements within 10 weeks were monitored and used as indices of the suitability of each of the culture media. At the end of the experiment three larvae were randomly selected from each replicate and taken to the

The need to reduce cost of production of meat animal has necessitated the use of plant materials with medicinal properties as feed additives capable of minimizing the influence of pathogenic microbes and improving performance of the animal. This study investigated the effect of such medicinal plant materials Garcinia kola on the growth performance and the haematological parameters of 20 weeks old rabbits. Thirty six rabbits of mixed breed and mixed sexed were used for the experiment, which lasted for eight weeks (56 days). The rabbits were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments: T 1 with no (0%), T 2 (2.5%), T 3 (5%) and T 4 (7.5%) of G. kola inclusion. The rabbits were housed in 2m × 1m × 1m cages per three rabbits in a 4 × 3 CRD experimental design whereby each treatment had three replicates, with each replicate having 4 rabbits and each treatment comprised 12 rabbits. During the eight week period of the experiment, feed and water were given ad libtum and while similar managerial and sanitary measures were applied for all the animals. Daily feed intake and growth performance of animals in each unit were monitored. At the beginning and the end of the experiment, blood samples were collected from the ear and analyzed for haematological parameters Hb, PCV, RBC, WBC and Plasma proteins). The result showed that G. kola has significant effect on the feed intake, growth rate, haemoglobin, PCV, RBC, WBC and Plasma protein. The feed intake decreased in all rabbits on G. kola treated feeds; numerical values obtained were 332 ± 0.32, 285 ± 0.52, 288 ± 0.12 and 262 ± 0.33 g/week for treatment 1, 2, 3, 4 respectively. Weight depression was also observed similarly in all the rabbits on Garcinia treated feeds with T2 having weight loss of 0.36 ± 0.11, T30.35 ± 0.12 and T4 0.64 ± 0.10kg. Rabbits on Garcinia treated feeds also have lower Hb, PCV, Plasma proteins and higher WBC and RBC compared to the initial values showing G. kola. G. kola appear to contain substances which depress feed intake and growth performance and the effect seem to increase with higher concentration. However, the RBC and WBC increased, it is therefore recommended that the use of G. kola should be at low levels of inclusion or intermittently not continuous.Key words: Garcinia kola, growth performance, rabbits. INTRODUCTIONTraditional animal healthcare practices involving use of some materials and herbal preparations called ethnoveterinary medicine is fast gaining grounds in the livestock industry especially in African and Asian countries (Ebenebe et al., 2010; Ojelade, 2015) as they provide readily available and low cost alternative to orthodox medicine. Of the herbal drug, the use of garlic (Allium sativum), ginger (Zingiber officinale), neem tree leaves (Azadiractha indica) and most recently bitter kola (Garcinia kola) have been reported in livestock health care management (Ebenebe et al., 2010; Esonu 2006, Owen and Amakiri 2013and Obun et al., 2013. Garcinia kola is a dicotyledonous belonging to the family Guttiferae or Clusiaceae and is widely...

The influence of insect protein origins on broiler chicken meat parameters were studied using 135 day old Arbor acre birds subjected to three dietary treatments: Diet A comprised of a standard feed of the brand name ‘vital feed’ containing fishmeal as the major protein source (control), while Diet B and Diet C contained insect meal from African palm weevil larvae (Rhynchophorus phoenicis), respectively, winged termite (Macrotermes bellicosus) as replacement for fishmeal. Forty five broiler chicks were randomly assigned to each of the dietary treatments at the rate of fifteen chicks per replicate making three replicates per treatment in a completely randomised design. The experiment lasted for eight weeks. During this period, the birds were housed in similar cages and subjected to similar husbandry and sanitation practices, such that the only source of variation was the dietary treatments. After eight weeks of the experiment, carcass quality and organ weight measurements were analysed using appropriate statistical analysis. The result obtained showed that the broiler chickens fed insect meals performed significantly (P<0.05) better in terms of live weight gain (2,200.85±64.23 g and 2,046±58.40 g for Diet B and Diet C) compared to control. Carcass quality relating to defeathered weight and eviscerated weight also followed a similar trend with Diet B (2,187.74±62.72 g and 1,788.93±70.70 g), Diet C (2,015.83±74.62 g and 1,466.97±100.05 g), and Diet A (control; 1,526.47±47.40 g and 1,240.30±64.53 g). The records of cut-up parts and organ weight measurements were also significantly different (P<0.05) for the birds on insect meal (Diet B and Diet C) than those on fishmeal based diet (Diet A). The result showed that insect meal can effectively serve as a major source of protein in poultry feed formulation.

No abstract