Nutritional Value of German Cockroach Meal (Blattela germanica) as a SuperPRO Feed

Abstract

Evaluating animal feedstuff is a crucial aspect of animal nutrition and formulation. It provides basic nutritional value information on the quality of conventional feedstuffs and enriches the database with novel feedstuffs. A study was conducted to evaluate the nutritional value of the German cockroach (B. germanica) and the parameters compared to the literature for anchovy fishmeal. Samples of adults and sub-adult B. germanica were analysed for dry matter content, crude protein, ether extracts, minerals, and crude fibre. Samples of sub-adult B. germanica were further analysed for profiles of amino acids and fatty acids and mineral composition. The chemical composition was compared to that documented for of anchovy-fishmeal by calculating parameters such as essential amino acid index, chemical score, and ideal amino acid ratios. The parameters were also compared to those recommended by NRC and GRRS. The dry matter, crude protein, crude fibre, and ash were 91.40, 56.64, 7.94, 6.05, 4.11 and 89.12, 58.28, 15.03, 5.21, 3.45 for adult and sub-adult, respectively. Whereas crude protein was similar, the crude fat (15.03 %) in nymphs was significantly different from adults (p<0.05). The crude protein level in german cockroaches was lower than that of anchovy fishmeal. Polyunsaturated fatty acid in nymph B. germanica accounted for 70 % of crude fat, dominated by oleic acid (35.90 %). All the essential amino acids were present, with leucine (3.14 mg/g) and methionine (0.65 mg/g) being the highest and lowest, respectively. The essential amino acid index of anchovy fishmeal (1.83) is better than cockroach meal (1.73). The level of essential amino acids in B. germanica exceeded the ideal amino acid ratios prescribed by NRC and GRRS for broiler chicken. Although the nutritional value of B. germanica is lower than of fishmeal, but is sufficient to as alternative chicken feed.