Substituting fishmeal with insect protein: Impact on growth and growth hormone gene expression in Labeo rohita

N. Ismat; S. Hayat; M. Hussain

doi:10.15421/0225168

N. Ismat The University of Lahore
S. Hayat The University of Lahore
M. Hussain University of Okara

Keywords: lipid metabolism, FCR, SGR, aquafeed, aquaculture, Pakistan.

Abstract

The study investigates the impact of substituting fishmeal with insect protein , specifically black soldier fly (BSF) and mea l worm (MW) larvae , on the growth performance and growth hormone (GH) gene expression in Labeo rohita . The experiment was conducted in triplicates for 60 days in 30 aquaria with ten fingerlings of Labeo rohita in each of them. BSF and MW - based diets were used with the following levels of inclusion ; 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% . The results revealed that moderate inclusion levels (75% BSF and 50% MW) enhanced growth performance of L . rohita . The 75% BSF diet resulted in the highest weight gain (14.53 ± 0.43 g), final weight (20.08 ± 0.38 g) and specific growth rate (SGR) (1.837 ± 0.038) with the lowest feed conve r sion ratio (FCR) (1.313 ± 0.071). In contrast, the 100% BSF diet showed reduced weight gain (12.04 ± 0.19 g) and SGR (1.643 ± 0.023). The 50% mealworm based diet achieved the highest weight gain (15.56 ± 0.41 g), final weight (21.90 ± 0.43 g) and SGR (1.763 ± 0.029) with the lowest FCR (1.140 ± 0.070). In comparison, the 100% mealworm diet resulted in the lowest growth performance with a final weight of 19.04 ± 0.44 g, weight gain of 12.68 ± 0.46 g, and SGR of 1.563 ± 0.042. Gene expression analysis showed that BSF inclusion at 75% and mealworm inclusion at 50% upregulated GH and IGF1 expression correlating with improved growth. However, excessive inclusion (100%) of both insect meals led to a decline in gene expression and growth performance. The findings are largely consistent with previous studies but also highlights the species specific differences in the response to insect based proteins as well as the importance of optimizing inclusion levels to avoid metabolic imbalances. Future studies should also attempt to understand the complete lifecycle effect of BSF and MW based diets , including the effect on repr o ductive success of fish and their capacity to resist disease challenge.

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