Cricket Meal (<i>Gryllus bimaculatus</i>) as a Protein Supplement on In Vitro Fermentation Characteristics and Methane Mitigation

Abstract

The aim of this work was to conduct the effects of cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus) meal (CM) as a protein supplement on in vitro gas production, rumen fermentation, and methane (CH4) mitigation. Dietary treatments were randomly assigned using a completely randomized design (CRD) with a 2 × 5 factorial arrangement. The first factor was two ratios of roughage to concentrate (R:C at 60:40 and 40:60), and the second factor was the level of CM to replace soybean meal (SBM) in a concentrate ratio at 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, and 0:100, respectively. It was found that in vitro DM degradability and the concentration of propionic (C3) were significantly increased (p 2), acetate and propionate (C2:C3) ratio, and protozoal population were reduced (p 4 production was mitigated (p 3 concentration and DM degradability, reduced methane production, and C2:C3 ratio. The effects were more pronounced (p < 0.05) at low levels of roughage.

Keywords

• cricket meal
• protein
• ruminal fermentation
• digestibility