Abstract
The growing demand for broilers production is related to environmental and economic impacts worldwide, increasing the urgency to find alternative feed ingredients. Recent studies indicated the productive potential of some insect species, which may serve as a protein and lipid source for animal feeding, as the case of black soldier fly (BSF) larvae (Hermetia illucens). This study aimed at assessing the effects of dietary replacement of soybean meal by BSF larvae meal in broiler diets, in growth parameters, liver and intestinal tract morphology, carcass and meat quality. Forty-eight 1-day old chicks (Ross 308) were randomly assigned to one of four feeding regimes, which consisted of a basal diet in which soybean meal was replaced BSF larvae meal, at levels of 0% (Hi0), 25% (Hi25), 50% (Hi50) and 75% (Hi75). The animals’ excreta were collected and registered daily, and half the animals were slaughtered at 28 days of age. The liver, caecum and other portions of the intestines were analysed, and the intestinal tract was collected for histopathological analysis. BSF larvae meal did not affect carcass weight, but it resulted in a lower weight of the right breast of birds when fed with a 75% inclusion level (P=0.049). In addition, all growth parameters, general meat quality and excreta production were similar among treatments, while excreta characteristics were significantly different (P<0.05). Dietary BSF meal resulted in lower liver weight (P=0.03) in comparison to the control. No histopathological lesions were found in the gastrointestinal tract and morphometric traits were similar among treatments. It was concluded that the dietary inclusion of BSF larvae meal for broilers did not significantly affect the animals’ growth and gut health.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 569-581 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of Insects as Food and Feed |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022 Wageningen Academic Publishers
Funding
This study was conducted in 2018 as part of the Master’s degree thesis of the first author in the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon. We thank Professor Madalena Lordelo from the University of Lisbon for supervising the student, and Adam J. Davis and Nick Dale for the assistance in the collection of data relative to the digestibility of amino acids in the caecectomized roosters. This study was funded by EntoValor project (POCI-01-0247-FEDER-017675). This study was conducted in 2018 as part of the Master’s degree thesis of the first author in the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, University of Lisbon. We thank Professor Madalena Lordelo from the University of Lisbon for supervising the student, and Adam J. Davis and Nick Dale for the assistance in the collection of data relative to the digestibility of amino acids in the caecectomized roosters. This study was funded by EntoValor project (POCI-01-0247-FEDER-017675)
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Universidade de Lisboa | POCI-01-0247-FEDER-017675 |
| Instituto Superior de Agronomia |
Keywords
- BSF
- growth performance
- livestock
- meat quality
- poultry