Effects of yellow mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor) inclusion in diets for female broiler chickens: implications for animal health and gut histology

Abstract

49The aim of the present study was to evaluate the animal 50 performance, haematochemical parameters, intestinal 51 morphology and histological features of broiler chickens fed 52 diets including Tenebrio molitor (TM) larvae meal. A total of 53 160 female broiler chicks (Ross 708) at one-day of age were 54 randomly allotted to four dietary treatments: a control (C) 55 group and three TM groups, in which TM meal was included at 56 50, 100 and 150 g/kg, respectively. Each group consisted of 57 five pens as replicates, with eight chicks per pen. After the 58 evaluation of growth performance and haematochemical 59 parameters, two birds per pen were slaughtered at 40 days and 60 carcass traits were recorded. Morphometric investigations were 61 performed on duodenum, jejunum and ileum and 62 histopathological alterations were assessed for liver, spleen, 63 thymus, bursa of Fabricius, kidney and heart. The live weight 64 (LW) showed a linear (12 days, P < 0.05, maximum with 65 TM15) and quadratic response (40 days, P < 0.05, maximum 66 with TM5) to dietary TM meal inclusion. The average daily 67 gain (ADG) showed a linear increase (1-12 days, P < 0.05, 68 maximum with TM15) in response to TM meal utilization. A 69 linear effect (1-12 and 12-25 days, P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, 70 maximum with TM15 and TM5) was observed for the daily 71 feed intake (DFI). The feed conversion ratio (FCR) showed a 72 linear response to TM utilization in the period 12-25 days (P < 73 4 0.01, maximum with TM15). A quadratic effect (P < 0.05, 74 maximum with TM5) was observed for the carcass weight. The 75 abdominal fat weight and percentage showed a linear response 76 to dietary TM meal inclusion (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, maximum 77 with TM15 and TM10). A quadratic increase (P < 0.05, 78 maximum with TM10) was observed for the erythrocytes, 79 while the albumin and GGT showed a linear and quadratic 80 decrease (P < 0.05, minimum with TM10) in relation to TM 81 utilization. Gut morphology and histopathological findings 82 World population is expected to increase by over a third, 97 reaching over 9 billion people in 2050. This trend suggests that 98 market demand for food will continue to grow. In particular, 99 the demand for cereals and protein sources in both human food 100 and animal feed is projected to have an exponential growth by 101 2050 (FAO, 2013). Consequently, the world supply of some 102 conventional feedstuffs like soybean and maize will 103 increasingly compete between humans and livestock. 104Therefore, the foremost gamble will be the identification of 105 alternative sources of protein, energy and other nutrients for 106 livestock, in order to avoid such a competition. 107The potential of insects for becoming a standard ingredient in 108 animal feeds has already been emphasized by several studies 109 (Veldkamp et al., 2012; Van Huis, 2013; Henry et al., 2015), 110 because of the high quality and quantity of protein (Makkar et 111 al., 2014), the low competitiveness with human food (Ballitoc 112 and Sun, 2013) (Van...

A Nutritional Evaluation of Insect Meal as a Sustainable Protein Source for Jumbo Quails: Physiological and Meat Quality Responses

“…A quadratic response was observed for large intestines, which was not expected. For all the other internal organs, there were no significant dietary effects, which is in agreement with several studies that have reported a lack of dietary effects on the size of internal organs of broiler quails fed BSFL meal [23] and broiler chickens fed mealworm [13].…”

“…Inclusion of insect larvae meal in broiler diets decreased the incidence of metabolic skeletal disorders while improving bird health [11]. Positive effects of Tenebrio molitor and Hermetia illucens meals on broiler production and health have also been reported by Oyegoke et al [12] and Biasato et al [13]. In contrast, there is no information on the effect of feeding insect meals to Jumbo quails, presumably because these birds are relatively new entrants into the commercial poultry production sector.…”

The effect of fish and mealworm larvae meals as alternative dietary protein sources on nutrient digestibility and gastrointestinal function in <i>Chinchilla lanigera</i>

“…there has been a growing interest in various insect species as potential dietary protein sources. Dietary supplementation with dried mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) larvae has already been tested in fish, pigs and broiler chickens [2,6,14].…”

Protein composition and digestibility of black soldier fly larvae in broiler chickens revisited according to the recent nitrogen-protein conversion ratio

“…Insect-derived products are considered to be one of the most promising sources in animal nutrition, as they can effectively substitute not only conventional proteins (Biasato et al, 2016(Biasato et al, , 2017(Biasato et al, , 2018Gasco et al, 2016;Renna et al, 2017;Roncarati et al, 2015;Stadtlander et al, 2017), but also lipids (Schiavone et al, 2017a, in press). Moreover, insect-derived products can stimulate the immune system and thus sustain animal health (Bovera et al, 2015;Henry et al, 2018;Spranghers et al, 2018;Vogel et al, 2018).…”