Assessment of larval mass changes in Tenebrio molitor reared on aflatoxin-contaminated wheat
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Nikola Laćarac, Saša Krstović, Miloš Petrović, Teodora Feher, Aleksandra Popović
Pages: 180-185
Abstract: Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) is one of the more important
secondary storage pests that feeds on a large number of agricultural products such as bran,
various oat, barley and rye products, etc. The idea of using insects as fodder comes as a result
of the ever-increasing population, and thus the ever-increasing demand for arable land to be
used for fodder production. Proteins derived from insects are considered to have a higher
biological value than plant proteins. T. molitor has emerged as an excellent candidate, as it is
distinguished by its easy cultivation (it is grown on substrates of cereal origin, as well as on
numerous other by-products of agricultural production) and simple requirements for
development. Mycotoxins originating from Aspergillus species in food and feed are a constant problem for crop and livestock production worldwide, which can reduce the nutritional, physical and chemical qualities of grain. The lack of highly effective disease control measures, such as genetic resistance or fungicides, make this disease extremely difficult to control. When it comes to the possibility of breeding this species, it is possible to produce insects without mycotoxin residues, even though they were fed on substrates contaminated with several times higher concentration of aflatoxin than allowed.