D3255: Evaluating Tenebrio molitor for the remediation of fumonisin B1 levels in livestock feed

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM MST

Location: Phoenix Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 6, PCC

Presenting Author(s)

Ryan T. Paulk

Biological Science Technician
USDA-ARS
Greenville, Mississippi

Co-Author(s)

HA

Hamed Abbas

Research Plant Pathologist
USDA-ARS
Stoneville, Mississippi
JM

Juan Morales Ramos, Ph.D.

Research Entomologist
USDA-ARS
Stoneville, Mississippi
MR

Maria Guadalupe Rojas, Ph.D.

Research Entomologist
USDA-ARS
Stoneville, Mississippi
MB

Mark Busman

Research Chemist
USDA-ARS
Peoria, Illinois
NL

Nathan S. Little

Research Entomologist
USDA-ARS
Cleveland, Mississippi
Heather Jordan (she/her/hers)

Professor
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, Mississippi
WS

Wayne Shier

Professor
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Ensuring the safety of insect farming will be essential for a successful and sustainable circular economy. Feed streams for the rearing of insects will inevitably include sources contaminated with fungi and their mycotoxins. Fumonisin B₁ (FB₁), produced by Fusarium verticillioides, is one such mycotoxin that is ubiquitous in corn. It can cause a variety of hepatological and neurological diseases in livestock and humans. Tenebrio molitor is one of many “MINIstock”, or “Models for INsect Inclusion” insects currently under investigation for quality and performance as livestock feed supplement. Here, T. molitor were monitored for their growth, mortality, and final FB₁ content in insect meal and frass when fed diets treated with purified FB₁. Levels of FB₁ chosen from FDA and EFSA recommendations for different livestock, were 0 ppm, 1 ppm, 5 ppm, and 20 ppm. Growth was negatively affected by FB₁ (P< 0.05) only at the highest level, with 10.7% less growth by harvest than control. However, FB₁ had no significant effects on mortality (P=0.752). T. molitor meal and frass at harvest were analyzed by HPLC-FLD and LC-MS. Meal retained less than 0.5% of FB₁ in the initial diets, while 28.0-40.2% of FB₁ was retained in frass. Long chain fatty acid derivatives of FB₁ were detected for the first time in frass by LC-MS/MS. Our research indicates that T. molitor is a robust MINIstock candidate for the remediation of mycotoxin-contaminated agricultural waste streams in future sustainable circular economies.