Türk Tarım ve Doğa Bilimleri Dergisi

Yazarlar: Ahmet TEKELİ

Konular:-

Anahtar Kelimeler:Böcek,Protein,Aminoasit,Kanatlı hayvan besleme

Özet: Due to human nutritional needs for animal protein, poultry production is anticipated to increase in the next 20 years worldwide. Poultry industry relies on cereals as the principal sources of energy in poultry diets. However, animals compete with humans for existing cereals. This leads to increased cost of cereals and feed ingredients and in turn, deficits in feed ingredients. On the other hand, increased demand for fish meal has rapidly increased fish meal prices. This increase is currently ongoing which makes fish meal less accesible for small farmers. As a result, increased pressure on animal production and rapidly increased fish meal prices urged researchers to seek alternative protein sources for production of fisheries and farm animals. Protein-rich insects are considered as economically viable alternative sources of protein. Insects also have a high content of essential amino acids, fats, vitamins and minerals. The quality of insect protein is similar to that of soybean meal or fish meal. Digestibility levels of amino acids are also high (87-99%). Insects are also a good source of minerals including phosphorus, iron, zinc, copper, manganese and selenium. Despite their potential use for their high protein and mineral content, it should be considered that insects may produce toxins and their mineral contents can reach toxic levels in some cases. Hence, a careful assessment for potential mineral toxicity is required before using them as supplements in poultry rations. About 1.900 insect species are consumed by humans every year worldwide, predominantly being in developing countries.

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