LALLEMAND : Offering a Boost to Insect Production Performance with Microbial Solution
To achieve commercial insect production, current systems need to evolve towards an optimisation of the main pillars, of which nutrition is fundamental. The challenges of scaling up are numerous among which the supply of raw material in quantity and quality is a major concern. Controlling the variability associated with the seasonal fluctuation of the feedstock is a potential productive advantage – Achille Leplat, Insect Technical Support, Lallemand Inc.
Although the feeding plasticity of the Black Soldier Fly larva makes it an asset for large-scale production of protein meal and frass, reproductive and growth performance can be directly impacted by feed quality and lead to output instability. The approach to insect nutrition is mixed. On the one hand, it is a matter of dealing with local feed resources while securing the volumes necessary for production capacities. On the other hand, it is a question of reasoning in relation to the nutritional needs of the insect, its physiological stages and the desired output. Including biowaste in the model necessarily induces variability.
Nutritional Strategy to Overcome Variability
Although it is debatable, using a stable raw material as the main growth medium seems to be a winning medium-term strategy. Indeed, as the variability of biowaste in feed is reduced, the gaps between nutrients provided and the corresponding performance is also reduced. However, this still fails to compensate for slow growth or less egg
production. Therefore, targeted supplementation as a control tool should be considered in the overall nutritional strategy.
Benefits of Microbial Solution
At Lallemand Inc. we positively influence the modulation of the digestion and absorption of nutrients with specific microbial product. In collaboration with the Danish Technological Institute (DTI), we investigated the effect of a yeast-enriched diet on the reproduction and performance of Hermetia Illucens larvae. The larvae were reared on a Gainesville diet enriched with different inactivated yeasts to obtain five different substrates. Each of those were tested with 5% and 10% inclusion rate. Individual larvae weight after 8 days of life, survival rate and eggs yield were measured. The highest larvae performances were obtained with an enriched diet of 10% of Torula yeast with 35% weight increase at prepupae stage. The highest eggs yield was obtained with the Torula yeast and the high sterol Lalvita® 6941 yeast, respectively 25% and 45% higher than the control group. These findings provide important information to support the use of yeast solution as an overall nutritional strategy to boost the insect production.
“Microbial solutions whether yeast or bacteria, active or inactive, open doors to a new perspective for the insect mass rearing production.” – Lallemand
For more information about Lallemand, please read pages 30-31 of Beta Buzz – The MUST-HAVE Insect Farming Publication
Alternatively, visit their website; www.bio-lallemand.com
