Pre-treatment of Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) using neutral salt to improve protein digestibility of Macrobrachium rosenbergii feed

Abstract

Macrobrachium rosenbergii (M. rosenbergii) is one of the economically driven freshwater aquaculture species in many countries. The production of M. rosenbergii has been increased over the year. Along with the growth of production of aquaculture species, feed production also rises. Artemia nauplii are the main live feed with partial replacement with egg custard. However, the application of live feed is costly. Black Soldier Fly larvae (BSFL) is a high potential source of protein that can be applied as M. rosenbergii larvae feed. Meanwhile, pre-treatment of BSFL using neutral salt (NaCl and KCl) is essential to improve the protein digestibility of M. rosenbergii larvae. This study aims to produce feed that can help in producing fast-growing and healthy M. rosenbergii larvae. Different percentages of salt were at 5%, 10%, and 15% were used for BSFL pre-treatment, while BSFL without the addition of salt was used as a control diet. The present study showed that pre-treated BSFL with 15% KCl had a higher protein decreased among the other treatments, followed by 10% KCl and 15% NaCl. In addition, egg custard with 100% BSFL has the highest crude protein and lipid content, which was higher than control (without BSFL), which has the lowest crude protein and lipid content. This study shows that the formulated egg custard has the optimum nutrient that meets the M. rosenbergii larvae requirement.