Nutritional composition of adult African winged termite and bonga shad

Cheap sources of protein and essential amino acids are among the major concern in aquaculture due to the unbearable cost of fishmeal. There is current research effort on use of insect meal as dietary substitute for fish meal in animal nutrition. As first step for a successful trial, knowledge of the nutritional composition of the experimental insect is important. It was observed that bonga shad showed higher levels of crude protein and ash while African winged termite was higher in crude lipid and dry matter. There was similarity in the levels of essential amino acids in both animals. However, there were considerable differences in the level of fatty acids of the two experimental animals in favour of the insect.