USDA Researchers Use Crickets to Convert Mycotoxin-Contaminated Corn Into High-Protein Animal Feed
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) have demonstrated that crickets can be used to upcycle mycotoxin-contaminated corn into a high-protein animal feed ingredient while significantly reducing mycotoxin levels.
Corn is widely used in U.S. livestock feed, but contamination with fungal mycotoxins at levels exceeding U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory limits can make the grain unsafe for animal consumption. Contaminated corn is often diverted from the feed supply chain, resulting in economic losses for farmers and grain processors.
To address this issue, USDA-ARS researchers in Peoria, Illinois, and Stoneville, Mississippi, investigated the potential of feeding mycotoxin-contaminated corn to crickets, which could then be processed into insect meal for use as an animal feed ingredient.
The researchers found that crickets raised on contaminated corn and processed into insect meal contained nearly three times as much protein as corn, while mycotoxin levels in the resulting insect meal were reduced by 96 percent.
According to USDA-ARS, the approach could allow farmers and grain processors to recover value from contaminated corn that would otherwise be discarded or devalued, while reducing agricultural waste and producing a protein-rich feed ingredient.
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