Black soldier fly larvae oil as an alternative fat source in broiler nutrition

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate growth performance, carcass characteristics, short-chain fatty acids, fatty acid composition in abdominal fat, and serum parameters in broiler chickens fed diets containing corn oil, coconut oil, or black soldier fly larvae ( BSFL ) oil at the level of 50 g per kg of diet during the 30-day-feeding period. A total 450 one-day-old male broiler chicks (Ross 308) were randomly allocated to one of 3 dietary groups. Each treatment had 10 replicates with 15 chicks per replicate. Feed conversion ratio was decreased in the coconut and BSFL oil group compared with the corn oil group. Dietary BSFL oil increased ileal weight-to-length ratio at day 30 after hatch. Dietary BSFL oil increased significantly ileal branched-chain fatty acid ( P < 0.05) and moderately total short-chain fatty acid in 15-day-old broilers ( P = 0.074). At day 30, ileal propionate was highest in the coconut oil group but cecal propionate was highest ( P < 0.05) in the BSFL oil group. Fatty acid composition of abdominal fat was affected by dietary fat sources. Especially, chickens fed diets containing coconut oil or BSFL oil had higher contents ( P < 0.05) of saturated fatty acid being dominant in lauric and myristic acids compared with those fed on corn oil. On the other hand, the reverse trend was noted ( P < 0.05) as to polyunsaturated fatty acids being dominant in corn oil compared with coconut oil and BSFL oil. Coconut oil vs. corn oil significantly increased total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Finally, BSFL oil vs. corn oil significantly increased total antioxidant capacity in chickens. It is concluded that dietary BSFL oil improves feed conversion ratio and increases the incorporation of medium-chain fatty acids into abdominal fat pad and serum antioxidant capacity in broiler chickens.

Insect Fat in Animal Nutrition – A Review

“…For example, tenebrionid oils increase the mRNA expression levels of APOA1, one of the genes responsible for phenotypic fatness, HNF4α, which participates in controlling lipid metabolism, and GIMAP5, a key factor in maintaining T cell homeostasis (Kierończyk et al, 2018;Zhang et al, 2020). Furthermore, Sypniewski et al Serum biochemical parameters H. illucens fat application in broiler chicken nutrition significantly reduced serum total cholesterol and HDL in comparison to groups fed diets supplemented with coconut oil (Kim et al, 2020). In addition, in our previous study Benzertiha et al (2019), broiler chickens supplemented with T. molitor oil showed a lower triglycerides level in the blood in comparison to birds supplemented with palm oil and poultry fat.…”

“…Fatty acid profiles of insect lipids and commonly used fats and oils (% of total FAs) (Finke, 2002;Pereira et al, 2003;Tomotake et al, 2010;Mentang et al, 2011;Oonincx et al, 2012;Siemianowska et al, 2013;Barroso et al, 2014;Alves et al, 2016;Li et al, 2016;Adámková et al, 2016;2017;Dreassi et al, 2017;Francardi et al, 2017;Iaconisi et al, 2017;Schiavone et al, 2017;Dalle Zotte et al, 2018;Megido et al, 2018;Turek et al, 2018;Alifian et al, 2019;Benzertiha et al, 2019;Chieco et al, 2019;Gasco et al, 2019a;Mlcek et al, 2019;Kierończyk et al, 2018;Kim et al, 2020;Ruschioni et al, (Sosa and Fogliano, 2017). Several studies have already studied the supplementation of insect oils in broiler chicken, turkey, and Japanese quail diets, demonstrating total or partial replacement of commonly used fat and oil sources (Cullere et al, 2016;Cullere et al, 2017;Schiavone et al, 2017;Kierończyk et al, 2018Benzertiha et al, 2019;Kierończyk et al, 2020;Kim et al, 2020;Sypniewski et al, 2020). Moreover, the studies available in the literature do not show any adverse effects on the birds' growth performance and/or the final product quality.…”

“…The most recent study was conducted by Kim et al (2020), who investigated the total replacement of corn oil and coconut oil by H. illucens fat in broiler chicken nutrition. The study showed that dietary treatments did not have any effects on the growth performance parameters, i.e., feed intake (FI) and body weight gain (BWG), while the feed conversion ratio (FCR) was significantly reduced in the treatment supplemented with H. illucens fat and coconut oil during the entire experimental period (30 days).…”

“…The substitution of insect fat (T. molitor oil, H. illucens fat, and Z. morio oil) into poultry diets and its impact on the final product quality were tested in several studies through the investigation of product quality traits and the FA profiles of different tissues (Kierończyk et al, 2018;Benzertiha et al, 2019;Kierończyk et al, 2020;Kim et al, 2020).…”

“…These effects may be related to the high level of SFAs in the diets of the birds. Furthermore, Kim et al (2020) reported that the pH value of the breast meat of broiler chicken at 30 days of age was significantly affected by dietary treatments in which H. illucens fat and corn oil significantly increased in value compared to coconut oil.…”