See below for a press released titled December 12th, 2018 from Ÿnsect:
Gut health, cumulative mortality and weight gain have been tested with, in the end, outstanding performance. Thanks to the results of this trial, Ÿnsect has further demonstrated its commitment to high-performance premium alternative protein ingredients with nutrition and health benefits for animals and plants.
Ÿnsect is an innovative company that specializes in breeding insects and transforming them into high-quality ingredients for pet, livestock and plant feed and health. Its protein ŸnMeal™ has once again demonstrated its outstanding performance, this time on the European sea bass, following impressive results on shrimp, trout and salmon. Gut health improvement, reduction of cumulative mortality, weight gain: Ÿnsect products are scientifically tested and proven to deliver superior performance on sea bass.
In collaboration with the well-known HCMR research institute in Greece, Ÿnsect launched trials on the European sea bass, a carnivorous fish known to be highly dependent on the inclusion of fish meal in its diet. Juveniles of 4g were fed for 9 weeks with three different treatment diets: a control group with 30% fish meal inclusion, TM 30 (30% fish meal replacement) and TM100 (100% fish meal replacement).
After 9 weeks of feeding, 8 fish from each tank were anesthetized and blood samples were collected by a caudal puncture. A histopathology procedure was carried out to assess gut health. Sixty fish per group were kept for an additional challenge test with the most important pathogen in marine fish: Vibrio harveyi. The cumulative mortality and syndrome score were measured over 10 days.
The results are very promising. Both the TM30 and TM100 diets improved feed efficiency and weight gain when compared to the control group. The best results were obtained at TM30, with a weight gain of +13.7% higher than the control (29.2g vs 25.7g) and the FCR was significantly lower (-7%). After 9 weeks, the lowest Feed Conversion Rate (FCR) was 0.77 for TM100 and 0.87 for CRTL, a reduction of 11.5%. The Total Feed Intake was similar between all the treatment groups.
TM30 and TM100 reduced the appearance of abnormal intestinal villi in the gut from 5 in the control group to 2 (n=15). Gut health is improved. This is a breakthrough and has never been previously assessed in research based on Tenebrio Molitor meal.
During the challenge test, TM30 showed a reduction of cumulative mortality by 45% (TM30: 18.3% vs 33.3% in the control). The symptom scores also showed a similar pattern.
In conclusion, ŸnMeal boosts the anabolism (biosynthesis) of the fish. This was already proven in the trout trial in 2015 (+34% of weight gain and -15% of FCR). In previous trials, ŸnMeal was shown to increase the resistance of shrimp and salmon in stressful conditions. This new study confirms ŸnMeal as a premium product that delivers outstanding performances and enhanced health.
It takes Ÿnsect to another level and the company is confident this protein meal will be implemented in preventive medicated feeds. This would also help to reduce the financial impact of diseases in aquaculture; bearing in mind that, on some fish or shrimp farms, the mortality rate can easily reach 40% due to a common bacterial infection. Every shrimp farmer is concerned by the Vibrio parahaemolyticus – known to have a global cost of US$ 45 billion over the last decade. ŸnMeal is effective on this pathogen and can deliver a fourfold reduction in mortality rates.
Ÿnsect’s unique position in the field of insect and other alternative proteins is reinforced by its commitment to high-performance premium ingredients with nutrition and health benefits for animals and plants.
About Ÿnsect
Founded in 2011, Ÿnsect is one of the leaders in large-scale vertical insect breeding and for the production of premium, high-value ingredients for animal and plant health and nutrition, such as ŸnMeal; a 70% raw protein meal made from the yellow mealworm larvae – Tenebrio Molitor. These larvae are reared on safe, controlled vegetable by-products of low market value. The T. Molitor is known to be very energy efficient and retains protein from these low-value substrates. Ÿnsect currently has a pilot unit in France that has been operating since 2016, where they have developed this technology, boasting 104 employees and 23 patents (PCT). In 2019, Ÿnsect will be constructing a commercial-scale unit in the vicinity of Amiens (northern France), with a production capacity that outstrips all existing operations.