Progress on nutritional characteristics of black soldier fly larvae and its application in aquatic feeds
Aquaculture is one of the most important ways of providing aquatic products,and the aquafeeds,especially for carnivorous aquatic animals,requires large amounts of fishmeal.To date,fish-meal has been recognized as the best source of protein in aquafeeds in terms of nutritional quality.Howev-er,with overfishing,anthropogenic activities and extreme weather,the production of major fish species that provide fishmeal has been decreasing globally year by year,leading to fishmeal shortage and price in-crease,and thus there is an urgent need for the aquaculture industry to seek for high quality alternative pro-tein sources to fishmeal in order to achieve its sustainable development.Aquaculture is one of the most im-portant ways of providing aquatic products.The aquatic feeds especially for carnivorous aquatic animals re-quire large amounts of fishmeal.To date,fishmeal has been recognized as the best sources of protein in aquatic feeds in terms of nutritional quality.However,the production of major fish species that provide fish-meal has been decreasing globally year by year with overfishing,anthropogenic activities and extreme weather,leading to the shortage of fishmeal and the increase of its price,and thus there is an urgent need to seek the alternative sources of protein with high quality as fishmeal to achieve the sustainable develop-ment of aquaculture industry.Black soldier fly(BSF,Hermetia illucens)is a saprophytic insect,and its larvae have characteristics including wide feeding habits,strong reproductive ability,and rich and balanced nutrients.It is considered as a highly potential and new sources of feed protein and has broad prospects of application in the production of aquatic animals.This article reviewed the main nutritional and bioactive components of BSF larvae,as well as progress on their application in feeds for different aquaculture species such as herbivorous,omnivorous,carnivorous,crustacean,and amphibian reptiles.The optimal amount of BSF larvae in different aquatic feeds was summarized.The feasibility of using BSF larvae as a sustainable source of protein in aquatic feeds was explored.The problems and challenges in its practical application were analyzed.It will provide a basis and reference for developing and utilizing black soldier fly and study-ing its mechanism in aquatic animals.
black soldier fly(Hermetia illucens)nutritional characteristicsaquatic animalsnew sources of proteinaquatic feeds