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Organic monogastric agriculture is challenged because of a limited availability of regional and organic protein-rich ingredients to fulfill the amino acid requirements. The development of novel feed ingredients is therefore essential. The use of starfish (Asterias rubens), mussel (Mytilus edilus), insect, green and brown seaweed, and forage crop extracts exhibits different approaches to increase protein availability in a sustainable manner through improving the protein quality of existing ingredients, better use of under- or unutilized material, or development of circular bioeconomy. This review assessed limitations and opportunities of producing, processing, and using these novel ingredients in feed. The use of non-renewable resources and the effect on the environment of production and processing the feed ingredients are described. Protein concentration and amino acid quality of the feed ingredients are evaluated to understand their substitution potential compared with protein-rich soya bean and fishmeal. Feedstuffs’ effect on digestibility and animal performance is summarized. With the exception of seaweed, all novel ingredients show potential to partly substitute fishmeal or soya bean fulfilling part of the protein requirement in organic monogastric production. However, improvements during production and processing can be made to enhance protein quality, sustainability of the novel ingredients, and nutrient utilization of novel feed ingredients.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of feeding three types of insect meal on broilers’ performance and selected gut health parameters. Day-old straight-run Ross 308 broilers (n=600) were group housed in 24 pens and fed diets containing 10% of either Tenebrio molitor (yellow mealworm, YMW), defatted Hermetia illucens (black soldier fly, BSF) or Alphitobius diaperinus (lesser mealworm, LMW), or a control (CTRL) diet for 35 days. Feed intake and gain were recorded at days 14, 28 and 35. On day 13, four broilers from each pen were placed in metabolic cages to determine apparent total tract digestibility after adaptation to 100% of one of three types of insect meal. Birds were killed, and intestinal content was collected on days 22 and 36 for determination of pH, selected groups of intestinal bacteria and short chain fatty acids (SCFA). Footpad lesions were scored on day 36. Birds fed LMW and YMW ate less than birds fed BSF or CTRL, but feed conversion ratio (FCR) was improved when birds were fed LMW. Dry matter digestibility was similar among insects, but differences were observed in ash and fat digestibility and nitrogen retention in which the BSF meal gave the highest digestibility of these nutrients. Birds fed any type of insect meal diet had higher levels of Clostridium perfringens in caecal and ileal digesta. Footpad dermatitis severity was similar between CTRL and insect-supplemented diets. Total SCFA levels as well as butyrate in digesta of birds fed BSF was lower than the levels of these SCFA in the other treatments. The propionate concentrations in caecal and ileal digesta were high for all diets containing insect meal. In conclusion, gain was maintained when feeding BSF but not LMW and YMW due to lower feed intake. Insect meal did not affect indicators of broilers’ gut health.

Emerging knowledge shows the importance of preweaning nutrition on programming the gastrointestinal microbiome and development of the gut barrier function. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of supplementing cow milk with either intact dried Ulva sp., Ascophyllum nodosum, or Saccharina latissima on growth performance and several gut health parameters of preweaning dairy calves. Forty male Holstein calves were selected based on birth weight (41 ± 4 kg) and plasma Brix percentage (≥8.7%) at d 2 of life. From d 2 to d 42 of life, the control calves (n = 10) were fed with cow milk (8 L/d) without seaweed supplementation, and the experimental calves were fed with cow milk (8 L/d) supplemented with either Ulva sp. (n = 10), A. nodosum (n = 10), or S. latissima (n = 10) at a concentration of 50 g/8 L of cow milk per day (i.e., 5% on a dry matter basis). Calves were weighed every week, and body weight gain and calf starter intake were monitored weekly. At d 42 ± 3 of life, calves were slaughtered. The organ weights and digesta pH from the reticulorumen, mid-and end small intestine, and mid-colon were recorded. A tissue sample (5 cm) collected from the mid-small intestine was analyzed for histomorphology. Digesta from the mid-small intestine and mid-colon were analyzed for lactobacilli, Escherichia coli, and Enterobacteriaceae, and short-chain fatty acid profile. Weight gain of the calves was not affected by seaweed supplementation. Proportional organ weights were not affected by seaweed supplementation except for reticulorumen weight, which was higher in calves fed Ulva sp.Both the mid-small intestinal and mid-colonic digesta populations of lactobacilli, Enterobacteriaceae, and E. coli, as well as the mid-small intestinal histomorphology in seaweed-supplemented calves were not different from control calves. However, acetic acid proportion in mid-colonic digesta was increased in calves fed Ulva sp. and A. nodosum, whereas butyric acid proportion was decreased compared with the control calves. Digesta pH in mid-and end small intestine and mid-colon were not affected, whereas ruminal pH was increased in calves fed Ulva sp. compared with the control calves. In conclusion, intact dried seaweed supplementation did not improve the growth or selected gut health parameters (i.e., histomorphology, digesta pH, bacteria, and short-chain fatty acids) in preweaning Holstein calves.

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