Removing the dependence on perishable feed ingredients in Tenebrio molitor (yellow mealworm) diet

摘要

Water can replace carrot as a hydration source for Tenebrio molitor (yellow mealworm), thereby reducing production costs, with no effects on growth but increased crude protein and decreased fat density.Alternative protein sources are urgently needed to replace the traditional sources for animal feeds, (e.g. soyabean meal). Insects, particularly Tenebrio molitor larvae (TM), could serve either as a partial or full replacement due to having a similar nutrient composition. Improvements in production methods are needed to scale up insect production for supply for animal feeds or as human food (Rumpold and Schluter 2013). For example, the majority of commercial insect producers utilise vegetables (e.g. carrot) to supplement the feed (usually wheat bran based), presumably to act as a water source. This significantly increases production costs when compared to water alone. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of alternative wheat bran based feeds where carrot was replaced with water alone, or with added sucrose and beta-carotene on growth, feed consumption and nutritional composition of TM.