Find in Library

The aim of the study was to determine the potential and sustainable use of pre-commercial product ITTINSECT™ APS V1 as a major protein source in rainbow trout (<i>Oncorhynchus mykiss</i>) diets. A 60-day feeding experiment was conducted to potentially use ITTINSECT as fish meal replacement in the diets of rainbow trout. Five isonitrogenous in dry matter (38% crude protein) and isolipidic (15% crude lipid) diets were produced: a control diet (fishmeal-based) (ITT₀) and four experimental diets replacing fishmeal by 25 (ITT₂₅), 50 (ITT₅₀), 75 (ITT₇₅) and 100 (ITT₁₀₀) %, with ITTINSECT™ APS V1. Triplicate tanks, containing 15 fish each (65.81 ± 1.26 g), were hand-fed to apparent satiation twice every day during the experiment. At the end of the feeding trial, significantly higher growth performance was observed in the group fed ITTM₂₅ and ITTM₅₀ diets. This performance was supported by growth-related gene expressions analyzed in muscle; significantly higher GH and IGF-I genes expression levels were determined in ITT₂₅ and ITT₅₀ when compared to control (ITT₀) (<i>p</i> < 0.05). While no significant differences were found between the hematology values (<i>p</i> > 0.05), serum total protein, globulins and glucose levels were significantly different between experimental groups (<i>p</i> < 0.05). In addition to this, the immune-related genes such as TNF-α, IL8 and IL1-β expression levels were determined to be significantly different (<i>p</i> < 0.05). In conclusion, in order to achieve the best growth performance in rainbow trout and enhance sustainable aquaculture practices, replacement of fish meal with up to 50% ITTINSECT™ APS V1 in diets for rainbow trout is suggested.