• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.219-227
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• 2020

Among insect species, black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) is a promising ingredient for animal feed as a dietary source. Moreover, BSFL contains a high content of lauric acid (C12:0), which has antimicrobial effects. Therefore, this study evaluated the effect of BSFL oil (BSFLO) as a partial or total replacement of soybean oil (SBO) on the cecal microbiota in broilers. A total of 210 male broiler chickens (Ross 308) at one-day of age were randomly allotted to 3 dietary treatments (10 replicates and 7 birds/group): a basal control diet (CON), the basal diet in which SBO was replaced by 50% (50 BSFLO) or 100% (100 BSFLO) BSFLO. At the end of the study (d 35), 18 birds (6 broilers/treatment) were randomly selected and slaughtered. Samples of cecal digesta were collected to verify their cecal microbiota. Overall, 235,978 gene sequences were generated, and a total of 4,398 operational taxonomic units were identified in the three groups. At the phylum level, Firmicutes was the dominant phyla in all three groups. At the genus level, Faecalibacterium was the dominant genera in all the treatments. There were no significant differences in the relative abundances of all the genera between the BSFLO groups and CON. However, the genus Erysipelatoclostridium was more abundant in the 50 BSFLO group than in the CON (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the substitution of SBO with BSFLO in broiler diets had no negative effect on the cecal microbiota of broilers.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.249-257
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• 2022

The present study investigates the effects of different inclusion levels of a microwave-dried black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae meal (HILM) on the carcass characteristics, breast meat quality, and fatty acid profiles of leg meat in broiler chickens. A total of 150 male broilers were randomly assigned to three dietary treatment groups (10 replicates·treatment^-1 and 5 birds·replicate^-1). HILM was included at increasing levels (0, 2, and 4%; CON, 2HILM, and 4HILM, respectively) in diets formulated for three feeding phases: starter (1 - 7 d), grower (7 - 21 d), and finisher (21 - 35 d). One bird per replicate was slaughtered at d 35; the carcasses and organs were weighed, and breast and leg meats were excised for a meat analysis. A linear decrease (p < 0.01) was observed for live and carcass weights for the whole period of the experiment, with no difference between the CON and 2HILM groups. Broilers fed HILM showed no significant differences in meat quality parameters, except for an increase in yellowness (b^*) in the 2HILM and 4HILM groups compared to the CON group (p < 0.01). With an increase in the HILM inclusion level, the proportion of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) such as lauric, myristic, stearic, arachidic, and heneicosylic acids showed a linear increase (p < 0.01); however, total SFA, monounsaturated fatty acid, and polyunsaturated fatty acid did not differ among the dietary treatments. Thus, microwave-dried HILM can be considered as a possible alternative ingredient to soybean meal in broiler diets up to a 2% inclusion level.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.1150-1169
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• 2023

Edible insects are gaining popularity as a potential future food source because of their high protein content and efficient use of space. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) are noteworthy because they can be used as feed for various animals including reptiles, dogs, fish, chickens, and pigs. However, if the edible insect industry is to advance, we should use automation to reduce labor and increase production. Consequently, there is a growing demand for sensing technologies that can automate the evaluation of insect quality. This study used short-wave infrared (SWIR) hyperspectral imaging to predict the proximate composition of dried BSFL, including moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, and crude ash content. The larvae were dried at various temperatures and times, and images were captured using an SWIR camera. A partial least-squares regression (PLSR) model was developed to predict the proximate content. The SWIR-based hyperspectral camera accurately predicted the proximate composition of BSFL from the best preprocessing model; moisture, crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, and crude ash content were predicted with high accuracy, with R² values of 0.89 or more, and root mean square error of prediction values were within 2%. Among preprocessing methods, mean normalization and max normalization methods were effective in proximate prediction models. Therefore, SWIR-based hyperspectral cameras can be used to create automated quality management systems for BSFL.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.39-45
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• 2024

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of adding black soldier fly larvae powder (BSFP) in the manufacturing of processed chicken products for dogs using poultry by-products. Chicken breast and Mechanically Deboned Chicken Meat (MDCM) were used for chicken products. To evaluate the effect of the addition of BSFP, the chicken products without BSFP were compared with the chicken products with 1%, 1.5%, and 2% BSFP added. As the amount of BSFP in processed chicken products increased, the protein content and redness increased, and the lightness decreased (P<0.05). Therefore, BSFP showed potential to be used as an additive to improve protein content in the production of processed dog food using poultry by-products.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.386-393
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• 2020

Insect industry has been focused as production of food, animal feed, pollinator and for environmental remediation. Hermetia illicens, called as black soldier fly (BSF) is famous as nutritive feed. In this study, to evaluate the antithrombotic activities of BSF, the larvae (instar 2~6), pupae, residue after adult emergence [RAAE] and adult of Hermetia illicens [black soldier fly, BSF] were collected and their ethanol extracts were prepared. Growth of BSF larvae was very rapid and the weight of larvae was increased to 25-folds during 10 days cultivation. The ethanol extraction ratios showed from 1.0% (pupae) to 18.5%(adults). The highest total polyphenol, total flavonoid, and total sugar contents were observed in RAEE (17.2 mg/g), pupae (3.4 mg/g), and instar 6 (37.6 mg/g), suggesting that metabolic changes occur during the life cycle of the BSF. Anti-coagulation assay showed that extracts of RAEE, instar 6 and pupa of BSF significantly inhibited thrombin, prothrombin, and blood coagulation factors. Furthermore, the extracts of RAEE, instar 3 and adult of BSF showed a strong platelet aggregation inhibitory activity. Our results suggest that pupae and RAEE of BSF have potential as antithrombotic agents. This is the first study to provide evidence of the antithrombotic activity of the BSF and bioactivity alterations during its life cycle.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.15-26
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• 2014

The black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, larvae may depend on indigenous bacteria in the intestine to feed and digest diverse food sources. To prove this hypothesis, we isolated and identified the intestinal bacteria of the black soldier fly for their digestive and antimicrobial abilities. The last instar larvae had long digestive tracts, which were about seven times longer than its body length. An individual of H. illucens larvae possessed a total of $5.0{\pm}10^6$ bacteria in the whole intestine, of which more than 98% bacteria were located in the hindgut. Three different bacterial isolates cultured on nutrient agar (NA) medium were detected in the intestine and identified as Morganella morganii, Providencia rettgeri and Bacillus halodurans by Biolog microbial identification system. Analysis of 16S rDNA sequences of the intestinal bacteria detected the additional bacteria of Proteus mirabilis, Providencia alcalifaciens, and Providencia sp. These intestinal bacteria cultured on NA medium exhibited high resistance to 4 antibiotics and inhibited growth of other microbes which are mainly plant pathogens. Also, these bacteria exhibited catalytic activities to degrade cellulose, lipid, proteins, and carbohydrates. These results suggest that H. illucens larvae possess intestinal bacteria that may play crucial roles in their digestive physiology.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.2_spc
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• pp.347-355
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• 2022

Among edible insects, black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens), yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor), and common housefly (Musca domestica) have been considered as an alternative protein source for pigs. Because they are easy to breed and grow in the organic wastes, and they have well-balanced nutritional value as a protein source for pigs. The black soldier fly larvae and mealworm could replace the fish meal in the diets for weaned pigs without adverse effects on growth performance and nutrient digestibility. Black soldier fly could also be included in the finishing pig's diet without any negative effects on the growth performance and pork quality of the market pigs. Insect products showed a greater standardized ileal digestibility value of amino acids than conventional animal proteins in growing pigs. Due to the limited amount of insect products used for pig feeding study, most previous pig studies have been conducted in weaned pigs. Thus, further study is needed about the optimal inclusion level of insect products in every phase diet from weaned pigs to sows. The use of insect products in swine diets has some challenges in terms of cost, supply, and safety. Lastly, intrinsic differences among insect species, processing method, and feeding phase should be taken into consideration for the use of insect products in the swine diets.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.34-40
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• 2023

As agricultural production increases due to population growth, agricultural by-products that are generated at all production stages increase commensurately. Black soldier fly (BSF) (Hermetia illucens) treatment has potential as an environmentally friendly process to combat the environmental pollution caused by agricultural by-products. This study examined the utilization of BSF larvae in the decomposition of the by-products of apples and mandarins, fruits commonly produced in South Korea. The BSF test larvae were fed apple pomace or mandarin waste, and the control larvae were fed calf feed. Larval weight and size were measured at 4-day intervals until larvae reached the pre-pupal stage. Larval development time, survival rate, and BSF fecundity rate were calculated for all three substrates. Waste reduction and bioconversion ratios were also calculated. The developmental time of larvae fed with apple pomace and mandarin waste was greater than that of the control larvae. The average weight of larvae fed with the fruit by-products was less than that of the control. There was no significant difference in the survival rate of BSF larvae or the fecundity rate of BSF between the substrates used in this study. BSF larvae decomposed 48.0% and 61.5% of apple pomace and mandarin waste, respectively. The bioconversion efficiency rates of BSF larvae fed with apple pomace and mandarin waste were 9.1% and 12.1%, respectively. These results indicated that decomposition of single fruit by-products by BSF larvae is an environmentally friendly and effective bioconversion process.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.624-633
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• 2021

This study was conducted to determine the supplemental effects of two insect meals, mealworm (MW) and black soldier fly (BSF), with high or low lipid levels in diets, on Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. Sardine and tuna by-product meals were used as the fish meal source in a control (Con) diet. The fish meals were replaced with MW, defatted MW (deMW), BSF or defatted BSF (deBSF), respectively. The shrimp (body weight: 0.47 g) were stocked into 20 acryl tanks (215 L) and fed the diets six times a day. After 45 days of the feeding trial, the shrimp that were fed insect meals had significantly higher phenoloxidase and superoxide dismutase activities than the shrimp fed Con diet. The gene expressions of prophenoloxidase, crustin and penaeidine-3c in shrimp hepatopancrease were also higher in shrimp that were fed the insect diets, regardless of defatting than those in shirmp that were fed Con diet. The survival against Vibrio parahaemolyticus was higher in shrimp that were fed the diets containing defatted insect meals than in shrimp that were fed Con diet. These results indicate that MW and BSF, regardless of lipid levels, could be good protein sources for the enhancement of innate immunity and anti-oxidant capacity of the shrimp.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.373-379
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• 2023

The dietary inclusion of black soldier fly larvae meal Hermetia illucens (BSL) for starry flounder Platichthys stellatus was examined in a four-month trial at a Pohang fish farm. Two diets were prepared: a fish meal-based commercial diet (CD) and an experimental diet containing 7% BSL in the CD (BCD). Fish (average weight, 125.2 g) were reared in a square concrete tank (7×7 m) in triplicates. Feed efficiency was significantly higher in fish fed BCD compared to that of the fish fed CD. The DHA/EPA ratio in dorsal muscle was not significantly affected by the fatty acid composition of the experimental diets. Based on the growth performance, the feed cost for producing 1 kg of starry flounder was 1,797 won for CD and 1,814 won for BCD. With government subsidies the feed cost for producing 1 kg of starry flounder was 1,481 won for CD and 1,309 won for BCD. The results indicate that BSL can be included at 7% without adverse effects on growth performance, fillet composition, or feed cost. However, further research is needed to determine the optimum percentage of BSL as a replacement of FM in starry flounder diets.