Review: Insect meal: a future source of protein feed for pigs?

Abstract

Are insects the farm animal of the future? A key agenda for agricultural production systems is the development of sustainable practices whereby food and feed can be produced in an environmentally efficient manner. These goals require novel approaches to complex problems and demand collaboration between scientists, producers, consumers, government and the general population. The provision of feed for animals is a major contributor to land and water use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Further, overfishing and a reduction in available land and water resources on which crops can be grown has led to an increase in price of protein ingredients such as fish meals and oils and soybean meals. Determination of novel solutions to meet the feed protein requirements of production animals is key to the development of sustainable farming practices. The Australian pork industry aims to develop production systems that efficiently use available resources (such as feed and energy) and limit the production of emissions (such as manure waste and GHGs). Invertebrates (insects e.g. black soldier flies) are naturally consumed by monogastric and aquatic species, yet the large-scale production of insects for feed (or food) is yet to be exploited. Most insects are low producers of GHGs and have low land and water requirements. The large-scale production of insects can contribute to a circular economy whereby food and feed waste (and potentially manure) are reduced or ideally eliminated via bioconversion. While the concept of farm-scale production of insects as domestic animal feed has been explored for decades, significant production and replacement of traditional protein sources has yet to be achieved. This review will focus on the potential role of insect-derived protein as a feed source for the Australian pig production industry.

Consumer Acceptance of Meat from Animals Reared on Insect Meal as Feed

“…The oil composition depends on the species and the feed of the insects [14,15]. In recent years, several papers have been published that show that fishmeal and soy can be partially or completely replaced by insect meal in poultry [16][17][18], in pigs [19], and in fish [20,21]. Despite the positive results, the European Union (EU) only allows insects to be used as a source of protein in fish feed [22].…”

Impact of Agro-industrial Byproducts on Bioconversion, Chemical Composition, in vitro Digestibility, and Microbiota of the Black Soldier Fly (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) Larvae

“…Seven insect species (two flies, two mealworms, and three cricket species) have been authorized as fish feed by EU commission regulation (2017/893-24/05/2017). Moreover, insects as a feed ingredient for poultry diets are now being explored for research studies ( Schiavone et al 2017 ), whereas DiGiacomo and Leury (2019) evidenced that insects pose an opportunity to develop a new sustainable feed source for pig producers in Australia. The use of insect meals for ruminants is currently not allowed in European or North-American countries; however, in several Asian countries, insects are historically considered food and feed and used as a protein source.…”

Full-Fat Insect Meal as a Protein and Energy Source for Weaned Piglets: Effects on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Gastrointestinal Function and Microbiota

“…The interest of using insects in animal feed is increasing [35,36], and inclusion of BSFL have been investigated in diets for pigs [9], chicken [12] and sh [11,37], but to this date, there is limited information about the effect of high dietary inclusion levels. The present study demonstrated that up to 19.06% fullfat BSFL meal can be included as an alternative protein and energy source in pelleted diets for weaned piglets without affecting growth performance.…”