The use of insect meal in aquafeed formulations has recently gained attention. Detailed knowledge about the inclusion levels for pikeperch (Sander lucioperca), a promising candidate for intensive aquaculture in Europe, remains, however, fragmented. In the present study, four isoproteic (45% dry matter) and isoenergetic (21 MJ kg−1) diets were formulated, including a control diet (H0) containing 30% fishmeal (FM) on an as-fed basis and other three diets in which fishmeal protein was replaced by defatted black soldier fly meal (Hemetia illucens) (HIM) at 25%, 50%, and 100 % (diet abbreviation, H9, H18 and H36, respectively). Feeding trial was performed on triplicate groups of 50 juvenile pikeperch (mean weight, 68.7 g) fed experimental diets for 84 days and the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fillet quality and economic and environmental sustainability of rearing pikeperch were evaluated. Our findings indicated that pikeperch fed H0, H9, and H18 groups displayed better results regarding growth performance indices, except for survival rate where no significant difference among groups was recorded (P = 0.642). A significantly lower organ-somatic indices, including hepatosomatic, viscerosomatic and perivisceral fat index, was found in fish fed H18 groups than other groups (P < 0.05). Inclusion of HIM affected the digestibility of the nutrients and resulted in an almost linear reduction in the apparent digestibility coefficient of dry matter and protein. Concerning the fillet quality, dietary HIM negatively affected the protein and ash contents of the fish fillets, while the crude fat remained unchanged. Dietary HIM did not significantly modify total saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids in the fillets of fed pikeperch (P > 0.05) but did reduce total n-3 fatty acids (P = 0.001) and increased that of total n-6 (P < 0.001). Increasing inclusion levels of HIM reduced the environmental impacts associated with freshwater demand and fish-in: fish out ratio while entailed heavy burdens on land demand, energy use and greenhouse gas production. The economic conversion ratio and economic profit index were negatively affected at the increased insect meal inclusion levels. This study has shown that the incorporation of HIM in feed formulations for pikeperch is feasible at the inclusion levels of 18% without adverse effects on the growth performance parameters. The feasibility also highlighted for environmental benefits associated with land use and marine resources required to produce farmed fish (FIFO).

Defatted black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) in pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) diets: Effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fillet quality, economic and environmental sustainability

Caimi, Christian;Gai, Francesco
;
Gasco, Laura
Last
2023-01-01

Abstract

The use of insect meal in aquafeed formulations has recently gained attention. Detailed knowledge about the inclusion levels for pikeperch (Sander lucioperca), a promising candidate for intensive aquaculture in Europe, remains, however, fragmented. In the present study, four isoproteic (45% dry matter) and isoenergetic (21 MJ kg−1) diets were formulated, including a control diet (H0) containing 30% fishmeal (FM) on an as-fed basis and other three diets in which fishmeal protein was replaced by defatted black soldier fly meal (Hemetia illucens) (HIM) at 25%, 50%, and 100 % (diet abbreviation, H9, H18 and H36, respectively). Feeding trial was performed on triplicate groups of 50 juvenile pikeperch (mean weight, 68.7 g) fed experimental diets for 84 days and the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fillet quality and economic and environmental sustainability of rearing pikeperch were evaluated. Our findings indicated that pikeperch fed H0, H9, and H18 groups displayed better results regarding growth performance indices, except for survival rate where no significant difference among groups was recorded (P = 0.642). A significantly lower organ-somatic indices, including hepatosomatic, viscerosomatic and perivisceral fat index, was found in fish fed H18 groups than other groups (P < 0.05). Inclusion of HIM affected the digestibility of the nutrients and resulted in an almost linear reduction in the apparent digestibility coefficient of dry matter and protein. Concerning the fillet quality, dietary HIM negatively affected the protein and ash contents of the fish fillets, while the crude fat remained unchanged. Dietary HIM did not significantly modify total saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids in the fillets of fed pikeperch (P > 0.05) but did reduce total n-3 fatty acids (P = 0.001) and increased that of total n-6 (P < 0.001). Increasing inclusion levels of HIM reduced the environmental impacts associated with freshwater demand and fish-in: fish out ratio while entailed heavy burdens on land demand, energy use and greenhouse gas production. The economic conversion ratio and economic profit index were negatively affected at the increased insect meal inclusion levels. This study has shown that the incorporation of HIM in feed formulations for pikeperch is feasible at the inclusion levels of 18% without adverse effects on the growth performance parameters. The feasibility also highlighted for environmental benefits associated with land use and marine resources required to produce farmed fish (FIFO).
2023
12
7
19
Alternative feed, Digestibility, Fish-in-fish-out, Insect meal, Percids, Sustainability
Stejskal, Vlastimil; Tran, Hung Quang; Prokesová, Markéta; Zare, Mahyar; Gebauer, Tatyana; Policar, Tomas; Caimi, Christian; Gai, Francesco; Gasco, Laura
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2318/1877179
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