Ferri Irene, Dametti Matilda Rachele, Frazzini Sara, Dell'Anno Matteo, Rossi Luciana
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, 26900 Lodi, Italy.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Jun 8;15(12):1697. doi: 10.3390/ani15121697.
Agro-industrial by-products, such as carob and brewer's spent grain (BSG), have gained increasing attention as sustainable feed ingredients capable of enhancing the nutritional and functional value of larvae. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of carob and BSG supplementation of growth substrates on larval performance and the functional properties of the resulting insect meals.
Seven-week-old larvae were reared for 14 days on the following three diets: control (wheat bran), wheat bran + carob (Trt1), and wheat bran + BSG (Trt2). Larval weight, substrate consumption, and survival were recorded. After processing, insect meals were analyzed for chemical composition, total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant activity in both water- and lipid-soluble extracted fractions.
Both treatment groups showed significantly higher final weights than the control (Ctrl: 104.9 ± 2.69 g; Trt1: 114.8 ± 1.26 g; Trt2: 116.9 ± 1.07 g; < 0.05). TPC was highest in the control for both fractions, and the antioxidant activity was similar between the Ctrl and Trt1 groups in the water-soluble fraction but significantly lower in the Trt2 group ( < 0.05).
These findings highlight the potential of carob and BSG for sustainable insect farming, though their functional benefits may depend on the inclusion levels and their interaction with insect metabolism.
角豆和啤酒糟等农业工业副产品作为能够提高幼虫营养和功能价值的可持续饲料成分，越来越受到关注。本研究旨在评估在生长基质中添加角豆和啤酒糟对幼虫性能以及所得昆虫蛋白饲料功能特性的影响。
将7周龄的幼虫在以下三种饲料上饲养14天：对照（麦麸）、麦麸+角豆（处理1）和麦麸+啤酒糟（处理2）。记录幼虫体重、基质消耗和存活率。加工后，分析昆虫蛋白饲料的化学成分、总酚含量（TPC）以及水提和脂提组分中的抗氧化活性。
两个处理组的最终体重均显著高于对照组（对照：104.9±2.69克；处理1：114.8±1.26克；处理2：116.9±1.07克；P<0.05）。两个组分中对照组的TPC最高，水溶性组分中对照组和处理1组的抗氧化活性相似，但处理2组显著较低（P<0.05）。
这些发现突出了角豆和啤酒糟在可持续昆虫养殖方面的潜力，不过它们的功能效益可能取决于添加水平及其与昆虫代谢的相互作用。
