This study investigates the use of defatted black soldier fly larvae meal (BSFLM) as an alternative protein source for pet food. Two BSFLM raised on wheat (BSFLM-W) or corn (BSFLM-C) substrates were compared with traditional protein sources, whole egg powder (WEP) and chicken meal (CM). The precision-fed cecectomized rooster assay was employed to determine the protein quality of these ingredients. CM had the highest crude protein concentration, followed by BSFLM-C, BSFLM-W, and WEP. The WEP exhibited the highest amino acid (AA) digestibility compared with BSFLM and CM. Notably, BSFLM-C showed comparable arginine digestibility to WEP. In addition, BSFLM-C had high AA digestibility, surpassing 75% for all indispensable AAs. Both sources of BSFLM had either higher or comparable AA digestibility in contrast to CM. The study identified methionine + cysteine as limiting AA for growing puppies and adult dogs in BSFLM-W, BSFLM-C, and CM. For growing kittens limitations were found in methionine + cysteine and phenylalanine + tyrosine in BSFLM-W, BSFLM-C, and CM. Phenylalanine + tyrosine was limiting for adult cats for all protein sources. This research demonstrates the potential of BSFLM as an alternative protein source as a high-quality protein for pet food formulations.

Read the full article in the Journal of Animal Science.