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The present study aimed to document the diversity and seasonal dynamics of stored-product insects in an animal feed facility located in northern Greece. A total of 38 traps were installed across different operational areas of the facility and inspected over 51 consecutive sampling occasions. Captured insects were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level, and their frequency and dominance were calculated. In total, 9047 insect species belonging to five orders, 14 families, and at least 18 insect species were recorded. The dominant species were Tribolium castaneum, T. confusum, Oryzaephilus surinamensis, Sitophilus granarius, Lasioderma serricorne, and Lepidoptera adults, which collectively accounted for more than 85% of all captures. The total number of insects exhibited marked seasonal fluctuations, with the highest captures during late summer and early autumn and minimal activity during winter. Positive and significant correlations were detected among several dominant species, notably between Lepidoptera and T. castaneum, suggesting overlapping environmental preferences within the facility. These findings provide a detailed overview of the insects associated with feed industries in Greece and underscore the importance of continuous monitoring for effective pest management. The results highlight the need for seasonally adjusted control measures and contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of stored-product pests under industrial conditions.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217794.].

Aflatoxin B[sub.1] (AFB[sub.1]) contamination is a serious threat to nutritional safety and public health. The CotA-laccase from Bacillus licheniformis ANSB821 previously reported by our laboratory showed great potential to degrade AFB[sub.1] without redox mediators. However, the use of this CotA-laccase to remove AFB[sub.1] in animal feed is limited because of its low catalytic efficiency and low expression level. In order to make better use of this excellent enzyme to effectively degrade AFB[sub.1], twelve mutants of CotA-laccase were constructed by site-directed mutagenesis. Among these mutants, E186A and E186R showed the best degradation ability of AFB[sub.1], with degradation ratios of 82.2% and 91.8% within 12 h, which were 1.6- and 1.8-times higher than those of the wild-type CotA-laccase, respectively. The catalytic efficiencies (k [sub.cat]/K[sub.m]) of E186A and E186R were found to be 1.8- and 3.2-times higher, respectively, than those of the wild-type CotA-laccase. Then the expression vectors pPICZαA-N-E186A and pPICZαA-N-E186R with an optimized signal peptide were constructed and transformed into Pichia pastoris GS115. The optimized signal peptide improved the secretory expressions of E186A and E186R in P. pastoris GS115. Collectively, the current study provided ideal candidate CotA-laccase mutants for AFB[sub.1] detoxification in food and animal feed and a feasible protocol, which was desperately needed for the industrial production of CotA-laccases.

Bioactive compounds, e.g., protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids, carotenoids, vitamins and minerals, found in commercial form of microalgal biomass (e.g., powder, flour, liquid, oil, tablet, or capsule forms) may play important roles in functional food (e.g., dairy products, desserts, pastas, oil-derivatives, or supplements) or feed (for cattle, poultry, shellfish, and fish) with favorable outcomes upon human health, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antiviral effects, as well as prevention of gastric ulcers, constipation, anemia, diabetes, and hypertension. However, scale up remains a major challenge before commercial competitiveness is attained. Notwithstanding the odds, a few companies have already overcome market constraints, and are successfully selling extracts of microalgae as colorant, or supplement for food and feed industries. Strong scientific evidence of probiotic roles of microalgae in humans is still lacking, while scarce studies have concluded on probiotic activity in marine animals upon ingestion. Limitations in culture harvesting and shelf life extension have indeed constrained commercial viability. There are, however, scattered pieces of evidence that microalgae play prebiotic roles, owing to their richness in oligosaccharides—hardly fermented by other members of the intestinal microbiota, or digested throughout the gastrointestinal tract of humans/animals for that matter. However, consistent applications exist only in the dairy industry and aquaculture. Despite the underlying potential in formulation of functional food/feed, extensive research and development efforts are still required before microalgae at large become a commercial reality in food and feed formulation.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285381.].

The aquaculture industry is an efficient edible protein producer and grows faster than any other food sector. Therefore, it requires enormous amounts of fish feed. Fish feed directly affects the quality of produced fish, potential health benefits, and cost. Fish meal (FM), fis oil (FO), and plant-based supplements, predominantly used in fish feed, face challenges of low availability, low nutritional value, and high cost. The cost associated with aquaculture feed represents 40–75% of aquaculture production cost and one of the key market drivers for the thriving aquaculture industry. Microalgae are a primary producer in aquatic food chains. Microalgae are expanding continuously in renewable energy, pharmaceutical pigment, wastewater treatment, food, and feed industries. Major components of microalgal biomass are proteins with essential amino acids, lipids with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), carbohydrates, pigments, and other bioactive compounds. Thus, microalgae can be used as an essential, viable, and alternative feed ingredient in aquaculture feed. In recent times, live algae culture, whole algae, and lipid-extracted algae (LEA) have been tested in fish feed for growth, physiological activity, and nutritional value. The present review discusses the potential application of microalgae in aquaculture feed, its mode of application, nutritional value, and possible replacement of conventional feed ingredients, and disadvantages of plant-based feed. The review also focuses on integrated processes such as algae cultivation in aquaculture wastewater, aquaponics systems, challenges, and future prospects of using microalgae in the aquafeed industry.

Necrophagy is a feeding strategy in which animals feed on carrion; most scavengers arc facultative and can also be predators or consumers. For amblypygids. necrophagy is a poorly documented phenomenon and there are literature records of individuals of three different species feeding on dead bats inside caves. In the present note, we document for the first time a nccrophagic behavior in the whip spider Paraphrynus raptator (Pocock, 1902) which was observed feeding on Otonyctomvs hatti Anthony. 1932 (Rodcntia: Cricetidae) and a yucatan poorwill, Nyctiphrynus yucatanicus Hartcrt, 1892 (Caprimulgiformes: Caprimulgidae) carrion. We made the observations inside a small chamber in an ancient Mayan temple inhabited by a group of woolly false vampire bats (Chrotopterus auritus Peters, 1856) in southeastern Mexico. Carrion consumption in P. raptator is directly related with the carnivorous feeding behavior of the C. auritus group with which they coexist.

The ever-increasing animal feed costs are driving many vulnerable communities involved in animal husbandry out of business.The high cost is mainly driven by the protein source, which represents the most expensive component in animal feed. In conventional feed, protein is obtained mainly from soybean and fish meal (SFM).The present study explored potential of partially replacing this SFM with black soldier fly prepupae meal (BSFPM) in Cobb 500 broiler chicken diets. A SFM-based diet was compared to three experimental diets formulated by partially substituting SFM with BSFPM at 13.8, 27.4, and 42.0% of the crude protein (CP) in the starter feed and 11.0, 37.2, and 55.5% of the CP in the finisher feed of diets D1, D2, and D3, respectively. Dietary effects on average daily feed intake, average daily body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, carcass characteristics, breast meat sensory attributes, and the economic implication of their use in broiler production were evaluated. Replacement of SFM with BSFPM did not affect daily feed intake, daily body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, aroma or taste of cooked breast meat. A 16.0% higher Cost Benefit Ratio and 25.0% better Return on Investment was recorded when the birds were reared on the highest concentration of black soldier fly (D3) compared to the conventional diet which was 19.0% more expensive. The implication of these findings for the promotion of insect mass production enterprises for animal feed protein, and their potential for income generation and job creation particularly in developing countries is discussed.

N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs), and especially eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are essential compounds for human health. They have been proven to act positively on a panel of diseases and have interesting anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory or anti-cancer properties. For these reasons, they are receiving more and more attention in recent years, especially future food or feed development. EPA and DHA come mainly from marine sources like fish or seaweed. Unfortunately, due to global warming, these compounds are becoming scarce for humans because of overfishing and stock reduction. Although increasing in recent years, aquaculture appears insufficient to meet the increasing requirements of these healthy molecules for humans. One alternative resides in the cultivation of microalgae, the initial producers of EPA and DHA. They are also rich in biochemicals with interesting properties. After defining macro and microalgae, this review synthesizes the current knowledge on n-3 PUFAs regarding health benefits and the challenges surrounding their supply within the environmental context. Microalgae n-3 PUFA production is examined and its synthesis pathways are discussed. Finally, the use of EPA and DHA in food and feed is investigated. This work aims to define better the issues surrounding n-3 PUFA production and supply and the potential of microalgae as a sustainable source of compounds to enhance the food and feed of the future.

Black soldier fly (BSF) larvae, Hermetia illucens L., develops on organic wastes, reducing ecological pollution and converting waste biomass into protein and fat rich insect biomass. BSF can replace increasingly expensive protein sources used in poultry, aquaculture and livestock compound diet formulation, such as fish meal and soybean meal, which holds the potential to alleviate future food and feed insecurity. The fate of nutritional spectra in BSF during its life cycle phases is still poorly understood. This study assessed metabolic changes in nutrition composition of BSF from egg to adult. A rapid increase of crude fat content was observed since the development of 4-14 days of larvae with its maximum level reaching 28.4% in dry mass, whereas the crude protein displayed a continuous decreasing trend in the same development phases with minimum level of 38% at larval phase (12 days) and peak level of 46.2% at early pupa stage. A sharp drop in crude fat was noticed from early prepupae to late pupae (24.2%, 8.2% respectively). However crude protein shows its maximum value being 57.6% at postmortem adult stage with 21.6% fat level. In addition, fatty acids, amino acids, minerals and vitamins composition in different development stages of BSF were presented and compared. Findings from this study could provide podium to food and feed industry for framing a strategy for specific molecular nutritional component intake into the diets of humans, aquaculture and animals. It is also indicated that BSF is a possible insect which can be applied to combating the food scarcity of countries where micronutrient deficiency is prevalent. Moreover it contributes to advance exploring for developmental and metabolic biology of this edible insect.