EVALUATION OF GROWTH, PROXIMATE COMPOSITION AND FATTY ACID PROFILE OF STRIPED MURREL (CHANNA STRIATA) FED ON BLACK SOLDIER FLY LARVAE
Abstract
Sustainable feed alternatives are essential for reducing reliance on conventional aquaculture diets. This study evaluated the effects of substituting conventional feed with live Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL, Hermetia illucens) on growth performance, feed utilization, and fatty acid composition of Striped Murrel (Channa striata). A 130 day feeding trial compared three diets: Control (100% conventional feed), T1 (50% BSFL partial replacement), and T2 (100% BSFL complete replacement). The Control group achieved the highest weight gain (204.81 g), while T1 (163.26 g) and T2 (144.53 g) showed reduced growth. Moisture adjusted Dry FCR values for BSFL-fed fish (2.90–3.00) were comparable to Control (2.54), demonstrating efficient feed utilization. Survival (78–84%) and whole body proximate composition did not differ significantly among treatments (p>0.05), indicating tolerance to BSFL inclusion.Fatty acid profiles were significantly modulated: T2 exhibited elevated methyl laurate (9.45%), reflecting BSFL lipids, whereas T1 enhanced polyunsaturated fatty acid deposition, including linoleic (18.49%), linolenic (1.06%), and docosahexaenoic acid (7.34%). Overall, partial BSFL replacement provided an optimal balance between growth performance and essential fatty acid retention, supporting its potential as a sustainable feed strategy in C. striataaquaculture.
Keywords:
Aquaculture nutrition, Black soldier fly larvae, Insect based feed, Fatty acid deposition, Striped Murrel (Channa striata)
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References
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24. Yeannes MI, Almandos ME. Estimation of fish proximate composition starting from water content. J Food Compos Anal. 2003;16(1):81–92. doi:10.1016/S0889-1575(02)00168-0.
25. Khodabux K, Lomelette M, Jhaumeerlaulloo S, Ramasami P, Rondeau P. Chemical and near-infrared determination of moisture, fat and protein in tuna fishes. Food Chem. 2006;102(3):669–75. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2006.05.057.
2. Wang J, Zhang R, He T, Belgrano A. Editorial: Blue foods security and sustainability. Front Mar Sci. 2024;11. doi:10.3389/fmars.2024.1487645.
3. Zulkifli NFNM, Seok-Kian AY, Seng LL, Mustafa S, Kim Y, Shapawi R. Nutritional value of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae processed by different methods. PLoS One. 2022;17(2):e0263924. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0263924.
4. Ravi HK, Guidou C, Costil J, Trespeuch C, Chemat F, Vian MA. Novel insights on the sustainable wet mode fractionation of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) into lipids, proteins and chitin. Processes. 2021;9(11):1888. doi:10.3390/pr9111888.
5. Phaengphairee P, Boontiam W, Wealleans A, Hong J, Kim YY. Dietary supplementation with full-fat Hermetia illucens larvae and multi-probiotics, as a substitute for antibiotics, improves the growth performance, gut health, and antioxidative capacity of weaned pigs. BMC Vet Res. 2023;19(1):7. doi:10.1186/s12917-022-03550-8.
6. Suwannayod S, Setthaya P, Limsopatham K, Harnpornchai N. The effect of growth and nutrition in black soldier fly larvae fed by hemp seed oil mixed diets. Insects. 2025;16(11):1081. doi:10.3390/insects16111081.
7. N R, Varghese T, Jana P, J ABR, A MS, S S, et al. Current status and global research trend patterns of insect meal in aquaculture from a scientometric perspective (2013–2022). Aquac Nutr. 2024;2024(1):5466604. doi:10.1155/2024/5466604.
8. Thomas A, Singh SK, Debbarma R, Angom J, Waikhom G, Patel A, Biswas P. Exploring the suitability of Hermetia illucens meal in Clarias magur catfish: effect on growth, physiology and flesh quality. J Insects Food Feed. 2024;11(1):187–200. doi:10.1163/23524588-00001089.
9. Hossain MS, Small BC, Hardy R. Insect lipid in fish nutrition: recent knowledge and future application in aquaculture. Rev Aquac. 2023;15(4):1664–85. doi:10.1111/raq.12810.
10. Xiao X, Jin P, Cai M, Yu Z, Yu J, Zhang J, Zheng L. Effects of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae meal protein as a fishmeal replacement on the growth and immune index of yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco). Aquac Res. 2018;49(4):1569–77. doi:10.1111/are.13611.
11. Kinasih I, Nurhadi MY, Gusmara FF, Putra RE, Permana AD, Anitasari RA. Growth performance of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) fed on some plant-based organic wastes. Hayati J Biosci. 2018;25(2):79. doi:10.4308/hjb.25.2.79.
12. Rossi G, Ojha S, Müller-Belecke A, Schlüter OK. Fresh aquaculture sludge management with black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.) larvae: investigation on bioconversion performances. Sci Rep. 2023;13(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-023-48061-0.
13. Moran D, Pether SJ, Lee PS. Growth, feed conversion and faecal discharge of yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) fed three commercial diets. N Z J Mar Freshw Res. 2009;43(4):917–27. doi:10.1080/00288330909510050.
14. Budiman F, Nugroho MA, Rivai M. Monitoring and control system for ammonia and pH levels for fish cultivation implemented on Raspberry Pi 3B. Proc Int Semin Intell Technol Appl (ISITIA). 2019;96:68–73. doi:10.1109/isitia.2019.8937217.
15. Wang T, Yang H, Wang R, Wang Y, Wang X, Zhang Z, Shehata AI, Wang J. Growth performance, physiological and antioxidant capacity responses to dietary fish meal replacement with insect meals for aquaculture: a case study in red claw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus). Aquac Res. 2022;53(10):3853–64. doi:10.1111/are.15892.
16. Kim J, Kurniawan H, Faqeerzada MA, Kim G, Lee H, Kim MS, Baek I, Cho B. Proximate content monitoring of black soldier fly larval (Hermetia illucens) dry matter for feed material using short-wave infrared hyperspectral imaging. Food Sci Anim Resour. 2023;43(6):1150–69. doi:10.5851/kosfa.2023.e33.
17. Jisr N, Younes G, Sukhn C, El-Dakdouki MH. Length-weight relationships and relative condition factor of fish inhabiting the marine area of the Eastern Mediterranean city, Tripoli-Lebanon. Egypt J Aquat Res. 2018;44(4):299–305. doi:10.1016/j.ejar.2018.11.004.
18. Froese R. Estimating somatic growth of fishes from maximum age or maturity. Acta Ichthyol Piscat. 2022;52(2):125–33. doi:10.3897/aiep.52.80093.
19. Kim Y, Oh S, Lee W. Feeding ratio affects growth, body composition, and blood chemistry of mandarin fish (Siniperca scherzeri) in a recirculating aquaculture system. Fish Aquat Sci. 2021;24(6):219–27. doi:10.47853/fas.2021.e22.
20. Khan MA, Abidi SF, Ahmed I. Effect of ration size on growth, conversion efficiency and body composition of fingerling mrigal, Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton). Aquac Nutr. 2004;10(1):47–53. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2095.2003.00279.x.
21. Venkatachalam S, Kandasamy K, Krishnamoorthy I, Narayanasamy R. Survival and growth of fish (Lates calcarifer) under integrated mangrove-aquaculture and open-aquaculture systems. Aquac Rep. 2017;9:18–24. doi:10.1016/j.aqrep.2017.11.004.
22. Li Q, Huang Y, Zhang X, Qin Z, Zou C, Tan X, Xie X, Liang S, Lin L. Effects of faba beans (Vicia faba L.) on growth performance, textural quality and physiological indices of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Aquaculture. 2023;574:739640. doi:10.1016/j.aquaculture.2023.739640.
23. Syandri H, Azrita A, Mardiah A, Aryani N, Diharmi A. The proximate composition, amino acid profile, fatty acid content, and mineral content of scale flour from three fish species as potential feeds for fish fry. F1000Res. 2023;12:1144. doi:10.12688/f1000research.141304.2.
24. Yeannes MI, Almandos ME. Estimation of fish proximate composition starting from water content. J Food Compos Anal. 2003;16(1):81–92. doi:10.1016/S0889-1575(02)00168-0.
25. Khodabux K, Lomelette M, Jhaumeerlaulloo S, Ramasami P, Rondeau P. Chemical and near-infrared determination of moisture, fat and protein in tuna fishes. Food Chem. 2006;102(3):669–75. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2006.05.057.
Published
16/03/2026
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Joragi, B. A. D., and V. S. Jayappa. “EVALUATION OF GROWTH, PROXIMATE COMPOSITION AND FATTY ACID PROFILE OF STRIPED MURREL (CHANNA STRIATA) FED ON BLACK SOLDIER FLY LARVAE”. International Journal of Health Care and Biological Sciences, Vol. 7, no. 1, Mar. 2026, pp. 9-16, doi:10.46795/ijhcbs.v7i1.822.
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