Research Information System
5 th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON ENGINEERING AND LIFE SCIENCE, Pitesti, Romania, 10 - 12 September 2024, vol.1, no.1, pp.1, (Full Text)
Changing societies
are challenging the agricultural and food industries. Food production has become
indispensable as population growth has increased the demand for different types
of food. It has been recognized that insect farming may offer an alternative solution
to the global protein shortage, which poses a significant threat to the
stability of the worldwide food chain. Within the framework of this study,
breeding and propagation experiments were carried out as the first stage of
testing edible insects with small-scale facilities that can be selected at a lower cost. It is seen as an advantage that protein-rich insects will benefit economically by supplementing the feed rations of hens and goldfish.
The main objectives
of this study were the preparation of edible insect cultures and the
procurement of chicken and fish for experimental purposes. Egg packages were
collected and small cabinets (1m2 cabin with 4 shelves) were
obtained. Aquatic and terrestrial individuals of the same genus as the World
Edible Insect List species collected from the environment were captured and
attempted to be kept alive and propagated in small cabinets. Live mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) were ordered in case
the insect larvae died and other insect larvae (Cybister sp. etc.) were tried to be fed with honey, bread bran,
glycerine etc. in the cabinet. They were reared in a continuous dark
environment at a constant temperature and humidity (28 ± 2 ºC and 65 ± 5%
relative humidity in an oven in the laboratories of the vocational school). The
diet consisted of 420 g bran, 150 ml filtered honey, 150 ml glycerol, 20 g
ground dark honeycomb and 30 ml distilled water. For the feeding experiments,
certain concentrations of antivirals (0.01, 0.1, 1.0 and 3.0 g of
acyclovir-like antivirals in 5 ml of 100 ml distilled water) were applied by
spraying to avoid contamination. The insect larvae and adults were dried and
administered to 10 fish in the diet (0%, 5%, 10% and 25%
ratios) and the changes in the life forms of these organisms were observed and
recorded.
In the experimental
studies, insect larvae were kept alive for a certain period but could
not be bred due to limited facilities. In chickens, no change was observed in
feed rations consisting of insect larvae and adults, while in fish the residual
water was found to be more polluted.
In conclusion, it
is known that insects produce relatively less greenhouse gases and less ammonia
in comparison to cattle farming; therefore, the nutritional quality of edible
insects is considered to be equal to or better than that of other food
products. In this context, it is concluded that the use of the feed rations
expected to be provided by insect farms will make a great contribution to the
national economy.