Research progress on the processing technology of poultry feed of the black soldier fly

SUMMARYThe black soldier fly is rich in protein and fat, which helps enhance the growth rate, immunity and disease resistance of poultry animals. They can replace traditional protein feeds like soybean meal and fishmeal (FM), showing great development potential. However, the exoskeleton contains a high content of chitin. An appropriate amount of chitin promotes the growth of poultry, but chitin causes difficulties in grinding and processing. Excessive chitin causes problems such as difficulties in grinding and processing, excessive chitin will affect the utilisation rate of the feed and the growth of poultry, and the black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) cannot meet all the nutritional needs of the poultry for growth, therefore, processing BSFL into larvae meal and larvae pulp to make feed is more conducive to the growth of poultry. This paper systematically analyzes the processing technologies of BSFL and their poultry feeds, elaborating on crude and refined processing procedures. Hot air drying, freeze-drying, and microwave drying techniques during the roughing finish stage are compared, as well as the mixing process of larvae pulp with poultry feed ingredients during the finish machining stage. After comparing the larvae pulp content and technological characteristics of pellet and extruded feeds, it concludes that larvae pulp is more suitable for producing extruded feed. By analysing the technological properties of four processing stages-primary mixing, secondary mixing, tempering, and spray processing-it is determined that adding larvae pulp during the tempering stage is most reasonable. The optimal ratio of pulp to feed ingredients ranges from 20 ~ 30%, with a maximum of up to 64%, which achieves the best quality, nutritional balance, and shelf life of extruded feed.