Effects of different levels of Hermetia illucens larvae meal on performance, egg quality, yolk fatty acid composition and oxidative status of laying hens

Abstract

To investigate the supplemental effects of Hermetia illucens larvae meal (HILM) on the production, egg quality, yolk fatty acid composition, egg amino acid content, oxidative status, and immune indexes of laying hens. A total of 432 Xuefeng black-bone chickens (45-week-old) were randomly assigned to 4 treatments with 6 replicates per treatment and 18 hens in each replicate. The laying hens were fed the basal diet supplemented with 0%, 1%, 3%, and 5% HILM (CON, HILM-1, HILM-3, and HILM-5, respectively) for 56 d. The experimental diets were isonitrogenous and isoenergetic. The highest egg weight and Haugh unit were obtained with 3% HILM supplementation, but the HILM-3 or HILM-5 supplementation have negative effect on the eggshell thickness, yolk index, and albumen height during the early stage of the experiment. The HILM supplementation linearly or quadratically (p < .05) increased the C14:0, C17:0, C18:2n6c, C20:2 contents of yolk, the Glu, Val, Met, Phe, and Leu contents of egg, the T-SOD and CAT activities, and the NDV-Ab and AIV-Ab levels of plasma. With increasing supplementation of HILM in the basal diet, FCR, the C16:0 and C16:1 contents of yolk, MDA content and IL-2 level of plasma decreased both linearly or quadratically (p < .05). In conclusion, Hermetia illucens larvae meal can be a suitable alternative protein source for Xuefeng black-bone chicken. Dietary supplementation of 3% HILM in basal diets may be a feasible means of effectively increasing the production performance of laying hens, and partially enhanced hens' antioxidant capability and immune function. HIGHLIGHTS Supplementation of 1% HILM had no effect on laying hens, and supplementation of 3% HILM increased the egg weight and Haugh unit. Supplementation of 3% HILM or 5% HILM have a negative effect on the eggshell thickness, yolk index, and albumen height during the early stage of the experiment. Supplementation of 3% HILM increased the C14:0, C17:0, and C20:2 contents of yolk, the Glu, Val, Met, Phe, and Leu contents of egg. The plasma antioxidant status and immune response improved by dietary addition of HILM at 3% levels.

Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Larvae Meal Modulates Intestinal Morphology and Microbiota in Xuefeng Black-Bone Chickens

“…The production performance was shown in Table 2 of our previous study ( Liu et al, 2021 ). In the overall period (from day 1 to 56 of the experiment), 3% HILM increased the egg weight ( p < 0.05), feed intake ( p < 0.05), and egg production ( p < 0.05), meanwhile decreased the feed conversion ratio ( p < 0.05) in a linear or quadratic manner.…”

“…The diets based on corn and soybean meal of the chickens were supplemented with 0, 1, 3, or 5% HILM to partly replace soybean meal and designated as A, B, C, and D groups, respectively. The feeding experiment was the same as our previous study ( Liu et al, 2021 ). The experimental diets were isonitrogenous and isoenergetic, but the proportion of HILM was different.…”

Insect meal as a feed ingredient for poultry

“…The concentration of crude protein (CP) in BSFM ranged from 35% to 61%. Reported values for CP are, 34.97% [ 10 ], 36.94% [ 30 ], 36.9% [ 31 ], 40% [ 32 ], 42.6% CP [ 33 ], 43.9% [ 34 ], 55.3% [ 11 ], 55.3% [ 35 ], 56.1% [ 36 ], and 60.8% [ 37 – 40 ]. Black soldier fly contains higher concentrations of lauric acid and palmitic acid [ 41 ].…”

“…The concentration of crude fat in BSFM ranged from 7% to 42%. Reported values for crude fat are, 6.84% [ 36 ], 14.1% [ 37 – 40 ], 18% [ 11 , 35 ], 29.4% [ 34 ], 32.5% [ 32 ], 34.3% [ 31 ], 35.49% [ 10 ], 36.9% [ 33 ], and 42.27% [ 30 ]. Methionine content in BSFM ranged from 0.08% to 0.90%.…”

The Nutritional Profiles of Five Important Edible Insect Species From West Africa—An Analytical and Literature Synthesis

“…However, Finke (85) argues the opposite, that chitin accounts for a relatively small portion of an insect's nitrogen and is therefore not impacting calculated crude protein values. Indeed, some researchers still favor the conversion factor of 6.25 (29,(99)(100)(101)(102)(103) whilst others use 4.76 (104)(105)(106). This discrepancy can introduce high protein variation in the literature; for example, Basto, Matos, and Valente (107) calculated H. illucens crude protein content with both a conversion factor of 4.76 and 6.25 and obtain values of 32.2 and 46.1%, respectively.…”