Nutritional Potential and Microbial Status of African Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus phoenicis) Larvae Raised on Alternative Feed Resources

Authors

  • Bernard Quaye Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.
  • Comfort Charity Atuahene Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.
  • Armstrong Donkoh Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.
  • Benjamin Mensah Adjei Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.
  • Obed Opoku Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.
  • Michael Adu Amankrah Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.

Keywords:

ad libitum, agro-waste materials, bacteria, food, growth.

Abstract

A six (6)-week long experiment was carried out to explore some feed resources for the production of African palm weevil (Rhynchophorus phoenicis) larvae and to ascertain the nutritional potential and microbial status of larvae raised on different diets. Four-hundred (400) two (2)-weeks old young larvae with weights ranging from 0.6 to 1.6 g were harvested and randomly grouped into 40 sets, each group comprising ten (10) larvae of similar weights and then randomly allocated to four (4) dietary treatments, using a completely randomized design (CRD) with ten (10) replications of 10 larvae in each treatment. The four diets which were administered were labeled as T1, T2, T3 and T4 containing varying levels of oil palm yolk at 100%, 50%, 50% and 25% respectively with various combinations of agro-waste materials including fruit waste of banana and pineapple and millet waste. Three (3) kilograms of each diet was fed ad libitum every two weeks for six weeks. After the feeding trial, it was revealed that the various diets fed did not have any significant effect on the nutrient composition except Nitrogen free extract of different groups of larvae produced indicated significant (p<0.05) differences among larvae. Microbial status of crushed samples of larvae also revealed the presence of bacteria species including Klebsiella and Salmonella. It was concluded that R. phoenicis larvae possessed great potentials for use as food and feed for humans and animals respectively and the diets used served as nutritionally suitable growth media for production of palm weevil larvae.

References

[1]. P. J. Anankware, K. O. Fening, E. Osekre and D. Obeng-Ofori. “Insects as food and feed: A review”. International Journal of Agricultural Research and Review, vol. 3(1), pp. 143-151. ISSN-2360-7971, 2015.
[2]. AOAC - Association of Official Analytical Chemistry (2005). “Official methods of analysis”. AOAC International, Arlington, VA.
[3]. AOAC (1990). “Association of Official Analytical Chemists”. Official Methods of Analytical Chemists. 15th edition. AOAC Inc. Atlanta Virginia, USA.
[4]. C. C. Atuahene, M. B. Adjei, M. A. Adu, B. Quaye, M. B. Opare, and R. Benney. “Evaluating the potential of edible insects (Palm Weevil- Rhynchophorus phoenicis larvae) as an alternative protein source for humans”. Journal of Animal Science Advances, vol. 7(3), pp. 1897-1901, 2017.
[5]. K. E. Ekpo. “Nutrient composition, functional properties and anti-nutrient content of Rhynchophorus Pheonicis (F) Larva”. Annals of Biological Research, vol. 1(1), pp. 178-190. 2010.
(http://scholarsresearchlibrary.com/archive.html)
[6]. K. E. Ekpo and A. O. Onigbinde (2005). “Nutritional potentials of the larva of rhynchophorus phoenicis (F)”. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition, vol. 4(5), pp. 287–290, 2005. http://doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2005.287.290
[7]. B. O. Elemo, G. N. Elemo, M. A. Makinde and O. L. Erukainure. “Chemical evaluation of African palm weevil (Rhychophorus phoenicis) larvae as a food source”. Journal of Insect Science, vol. 11, pp. 146, 2011.
[8]. FAM (Food Administration Manual). “Microbiological reference criteria for food”. Section 11: Microbiological Criteria Version 2.0, 1995.
[9]. B. T, Fasunwon, A. D. Banjo, and T. A. Jemine. “Effect of dermestes maculatus on the nutritional qualities of two edible insects (Oryctes boas and Rhynchophorus phoenicis)”. African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, vol. 11(7), pp. 5600- 5613, 2011.
[10]. J. M. Fogoh, A. G. Aurèle, L. G. Philippe and L. Patrice. “Exploitation, trade and farming of palm weevil grubs in Cameroon”. Bogor, Indonesia: CIFOR. Working Paper 178, 2015.
[11]. R. T. Gahukar. “Entomophagy and human food security”. International Journal of Tropical Insect Science, vol. 31(3), pp. 129-144, 2011.
[12]. GenStat Discovery (2008).GenStat Procedure Library Release PL 19.1. Eleventh Edition, Release 11.1 TBE (PC/Windows 7). VSN International Ltd, London.
[13]. M. N. Ogbuagu. “The Nutrient Composition of the Larva of Oil Palm Weevil: Rhynchophorus phoenicis”. Journal of Science amd Nutrition, vol. 35(2), pp. 97-100, 2010.
[14]. M. N. Ogbuagu, I. Ohondu and C. Nwigwe. “Fatty acid and amino acid profiles of the larva of raffia palm weevil: Rhynchophorus phoenicis”. Pacific Journal of Science and Technology, vol. 12(2), pp. 392–400, 2011.
[15]. M. N. Opara, F. T. Sanyigha, I. P. Ogbuewu and I. C. Okoli. “Studies on the production trend and quality characteristics of palm grubs in the tropical rainforest zone of Nigeria”. Journal of Agricultural Technology, vol. 8(3), pp. 851-860, 2012.
[16]. U. Pauzenga. “Feeding parent stock”. Zoo Technical International, pp. 22-24, Dec. 1985.
[17]. J. Stack, A. Dorward, T. Gondo, P. Frost, F. Taylor and N. Kurebgaseka. “Mopane worm utilization and rural livelihoods in Southern Africa”. Paper presented at the International Conference on Rural Livelihoods, Forests and Biodiversity, Bonn, Germany, 2003.
[18]. A. Van Huis. “Potential of insects as food and feed in assuring food security”. Annual Review of Entomology, vol. 58, pp. 563-583, 2013.
[19]. H. M. Womeni, B. Tiencheu, M. Linder, C. M. E. Nabayo, N. Tenyang, T. F. Mbiapo, P. Villeneuve, J. Fanni, and M. Parmentier. “Nutritional value and effect of cooking, drying and storage process on some functional properties of Rhynchophorus phoenicis”. International Journal of Life Science and Pharma Research, vol. 2(3), pp. 203–219, 2012.
[20]. N. Zealand. “Guidelines for the microbiological examination of ready - to - eat foods”. Pp. 1-7, Dec. 2001.

Downloads

Published

2018-10-26

How to Cite

Quaye, B., Atuahene, C. C., Donkoh, A., Adjei, B. M., Opoku, O., & Amankrah, M. A. (2018). Nutritional Potential and Microbial Status of African Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus phoenicis) Larvae Raised on Alternative Feed Resources. American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences, 48(1), 45–52. Retrieved from https://asrjetsjournal.org/index.php/American_Scientific_Journal/article/view/4388

Issue

Section

Articles