EC Veterinary Science

The World ought to be ethical or will extinct. It is valid for its consumption, animal production and companion-pet animal keeping, too. At the same time, the alternatives should be evaluated on a scientific basis. The main challenge in the food supply of the humanity is to ensure the daily protein intake of approximately 60g per capita. One of the promising solution is the use of insects. The human consumption of insects has thousend-year-long history, insects were used as model animal in the experimentation [5], but the use of insects as animal feed source is relatively new. In 2021 the EU authorised the use of seven insect species: black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens), common housefly (Musca domestica), yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor), lesser mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus), house cricket (Acheta domesticus), banded cricket (Gryllodes sigillatus) and field cricket (Gryllus assimilis)" in feed for aquaculture animals, pig and poultry [1].

1. Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/1372 of 17 August 2021 amending Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the prohibition to feed non-ruminant farmed animals, other than fur animals, with protein derived from animals (2021).
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4. Fekete L. "Swine nutrition and feeding" (in Hungarian). Mezőgazda. Budapest (1995): 16-26.
5. Fekete S. "The investigation of the feeding value of some protein sources using Tenebroidea family beetle larvae" (in Hungarian)”. Állategészségügyi és Takarmányozási Közlemények 2 (1982): 125-127.
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8. Kim YB., et al. "Black soldier fly larvae oil as an alternative fat source in broiler nutrition”. Poultry Science 99 (2020): 3133-3143.
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10. Mwaniki ZN and Kiarie E. "Standardized ileal digestible amino acids and apparent metabolizable energy content in defatted black soldier fly larvae fed to broiler chickens”. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 99 (2018): 211-217.
11. Popova T., et al. "Effect of Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) meals on the meat quality in broilers”. Agricultural Food Science 29 (2020): 177-188.
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14. Wu G and Li P. "The 'ideal protein' concept is not ideal in animal nutrition A minireview". erimental Biology and Mededicine (2021).
15. Yi H-J., et al. "Insect Antimicrobial Peptides and Their Applications". Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 13 (2014): 5807-5822.