The search for sustainable alternative protein sources in poultry nutrition has intensified due to environmental and economic concerns surrounding conventional ingredients like soybean and fish meal. Black soldier fly (iHermetia/ii /iiillucens/i) larvae (BSFL) meal represents a promising alternative. This study characterized the proximate composition, mineral content, and amino acid profile of BSFL meal produced under controlled conditions to evaluate its potential for broiler chicken diets. Proximate analysis was performed using standard methods of the iAssociation/ii /iiof/ii /iiOfficial/ii /iiAnalytical/ii /iiChemists/i, minerals were determined via iInductively/ii /iiCoupled/ii /iiPlasma–Optical/ii /iiEmission/ii /iiSpectroscopy/i and iAtomic/ii /iiAbsorption/ii /iiSpectrophotometry/i, and amino acids were quantified using iHigh-Performance/ii /iiLiquid/ii /iiChromatography/i following derivatization. Results showed that BSFL meal contained high crude protein (54.42%) and fat (24.60%), with a gross energy of 5685.33 kcal/kg. The mineral profile included substantial levels of magnesium (3.100 g/kg), zinc (82.67 mg/kg), and iron (92.00 mg/kg), though potassium (0.677 g/kg) was relatively low. The amino acid profile was favourable, with lysine (6.07 g/100g) exceeding typical fishmeal ranges. However, methionine (2.14 g/100g), cystine (0.57 g/100g), and tryptophan (0.54 g/100g) were identified as limiting amino acids. The study concluded that BSFL meal possesses excellent potential as a high-protein and energy-dense ingredient for partial replacement of fishmeal or soybean meal in broiler diets. To optimize its use, strategic supplementation with synthetic methionine and tryptophan is recommended to address amino acid imbalances. These findings support the inclusion of BSFL meal as a sustainable component in poultry feed formulations.
Sunday et al. (Thu,) studied this question.