Insects usage in pets food

Abstract

The world population is increasing swiftly and expected to reach 109 billion by 2100. As compared to population increment, food resources to feed a huge population are not increasing. Similarly, in the future country having enough food to feed its inhabitants will be considered more powerful. There are two main protein sources used by living beings which are from plant origin and animal origin. Furthermore, animal protein sources are more crucial for humans due to the presence of essential amino acids. It is a need of the hour to find alternative sources to fulfill the requirements. The insect protein source is one of them especially for animal feed leading to the usage of that protein being consumed by animals in human food. Especially pets food companies use hygiene meat of human consumption standards which can be replaced with an insect-based protein source. Insects are a rich source of proteins (40-60%), lipids (14-37%), energy, vitamins and minerals having variation with species (black soldier fly, mealworm, cricket and locust) and developmental stage of life (larva, pupa, nymph and adult one). Many trials have been conducted by using insect meal as an alternative protein source in pet’s food (dogs, cats, rabbits, reptiles, sugar gliders, birds, and ornamental fishes, which has been explained in this study. It can be concluded that insect-derived products can be used in pet food as an alternative source of protein to conventional protein sources (soybean meal, fish meal) with improved performance.