5. Conclusions
Thus far, the use of insects in animal feed has not received much
attention. Recently, some studies, which have generally been
developed in underdeveloped countries with a traditional use of
insects as food, have been published, which have drawn the
attention of the international community and have shown the
nutritive potential of insects. These studies, together the development
of mass-rearing systems for insects, the current economic
crisis and the increase in food prices, provides interesting perspectives
for the use of insects for different purposes, such as animal
nutrition, agriculture, to obtain essential oils or biodiesel.
Additionally, insect culturing does not compete with food resources
or land use and maximises the benefits of waste management by
using ‘‘waste nutrients’’ for insect growth. Additionally, insect utilisation
contributes to the natural recycling of nutrients. Therefore,
we believe that the coming years will see a significant increase in
scientific production related to the use of insect meal in animal feed
or other purposes. To make use of insects as a feed ingredient on a
large scale it is important to increase the scale of insect production
further with a continuous quantity and quality, but it should be
decrease the cost price of insect rearing further in order to be
competitive with currently used protein sources.
The published results regarding the use of insect meal in animal
feeding indicate that insects have a great potential in animal
feeding. As a protein source, insects have an adequate profile of
amino acids, depending on the insect species. The more frequent
limiting amino acids are histidine, lysine and tryptophan, which
could be incorporated into the diet. In addition, it is necessary to
evaluate the amino acid profiles of other insect species to select the
species with the best amino acid profile or to improve the profile
through genetic methods. To introduce insects as a feed ingredient
in the feed chain, additional research is recommended on its
feeding value, inclusion levels in diets, and functional properties of
the feed ingredient. In conclusion, the use of insects as a sustainable
protein rich feed ingredient in diets is technically feasible, and
opens new perspectives in animal feeding.
Acknowledgements
The authors are very grateful to Consejería de Innovacion y
Ciencia de la Junta de Andalucia (project AGR5273), European
Regional Development Funds (FEDER funds), Campus de Excelencia
Internacional Agroalimentario (CEI3) y del Mar (CEIMar), Ministerio
de Educación (Spain), by financial support.