Supervised by Dewi Apri Astuti and Anuraga Jayanegara
Culled cricket was a waste from a breeder that has a high protein content, so it can be used as a protein source. This study had two objectives, the first was to compare the effect of three forms of cricket meal on fermentation and digestion in vitro. The second objective was to evaluate the concentrate containing cricket meal on fermentation and digestion in vitro. This experiment used randomized complete block design with three replication. The treatment for the first experiment was B1 (whole cricket meal as WCM), B2 (low chitin cricket meal as LCCM), and B3 (isolate protein cricket meal as IPCM). The second experiment consisted of R0 (control), R1 (concentrate containing 15% WCM), R2 (concentrate containing 30% WCM), and R3 (concentrate containing 30% LCCM). There were no significant effects for any cricket meal form on dry matter digestibility (DMD), organic matter digestibility (OMD), ammonia concentration, and total volatile fatty acid (VFA). Meanwhile, in the second experiment, the treatment of R0 and R1 were significantly higher on DMD and OMD, compared to treatment R2 and R3 (P<0.05). The concentration of ammonia in R2 and R3 were higher than in R0 and R1 (P<0.05). It can be concluded that cricket meal is an ingredient with degradable protein. Concentrate with 15% cricket meal has the best fermentability and digestibility.