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. 2020 Nov 24;11(12):827.
doi: 10.3390/insects11120827.

Self-Selection of Agricultural By-Products and Food Ingredients by Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) and Impact on Food Utilization and Nutrient Intake

Juan A Morales-Ramos  1 , M Guadalupe Rojas  1 , Hans C Kelstrup  2 , Virginia Emery  2
Affiliations

Self-Selection of Agricultural By-Products and Food Ingredients by Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) and Impact on Food Utilization and Nutrient Intake

Juan A Morales-Ramos et al. Insects. .

Abstract

Nutrient self-selection was used to determine optimal intake ratios of macro-nutrients by Tenebrio molitor L. larvae. Self-selection experiments consisted of 9 combinations (treatments) of 8 ingredients, from a total of 20 choices, radially distributed in a multiple-choice arena presented to groups of 100 T. molitor larvae (12th-13th instar). Larvae freely selected and feed on the pelletized ingredients for a period of 21 days at 27 °C, 75% RH, and dark conditions. Consumption (g) of each ingredient, larval live weight gained (mg), and frass production were recorded and used to calculate food assimilation and efficiency of conversion of ingested food. The macro-nutrient intake ratios were 0.06 ± 0.03, 0.23 ± 0.01, and 0.71 ± 0.03 for lipid, protein, and carbohydrate, respectively on the best performing treatments. The intake of neutral detergent fiber negatively impacted food assimilation, food conversion and biomass gain. Food assimilation, food conversion, and biomass gain were significantly impacted by the intake of carbohydrate in a positive way. Cabbage, potato, wheat bran, rice bran (whole and defatted), corn dry distillers' grain, spent brewery dry grain, canola meal and sunflower meal were considered suitable as T. molitor diets ingredients based on their relative consumption percentages (over 10%) within treatment.

Keywords: food assimilation; food conversion; insect dietetics; insect rearing; insects as feed and food; macro-nutrients; nutrition.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Multiple-choice arenas for self-selection experiments: (A) top and bottom views; (B) assembled arena with cover and bottom dish; (C) experimental unit with food choices and larvae, (a) opening into modified vial as food-choice compartment.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Proportional consumption of food ingredients by T. molitor larvae in nine treatments of different combinations of eight ingredients.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Ternary plot of self-selected macro-nutrient intake ratios (L = lipid, P = protein, C = carbohydrate) in nine combination treatments of eight ingredients.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Circles represent means and brackets represent standard deviation of (A) dry-weight food consumption, (B) live biomass gain, (C) percent food assimilation, and (D) efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI) by groups of 100 T. molitor larvae in nine self-selection treatments of eight ingredients. Means with the same letter are not significantly different at α = 0.05 after Tukey–Kramer HSD test.
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