Nutritional value of a partially defatted and a highly defatted black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens L.) meal for broiler chickens: apparent nutrient digestibility, apparent metabolizable energy and apparent ileal amino acid digestibility

Abstract

BackgroundThe study aimed to determine the apparent total tract digestibility coefficients (ATTDC) of nutrients, the apparent metabolizable energy (AME and AMEn) and the amino acid (AA) apparent ileal digestibility coefficients (AIDC) of a partially defatted (BSFp) and a highly defatted (BSFh) black soldier fly larvae meal. The experimental diets were: a basal diet and two diets prepared by substituting 250 g/kg (w/w) of the basal diet with BSFp or BSFh, respectively.ResultsSignificant differences were found between BSFp and BSFh meals for ATTDC of the nutrients: BSFp resulted more digestible than BSFh, except for ATTDC of CP which did not differed between meals, while a statistical trend was observed for ATTDC of DM and EE. The AME and AMEn values were significantly (P < 0.05) different between the two BSF meals, with higher levels for BSFp (16.25 and 14.87 MJ/kg DM, respectively). The AIDC of the AA in BSFp ranged from 0.44 to 0.92, while in BSFh they ranged from 0.45 to 0.99. No significant differences were observed for the AA digestibility (0.77 and 0.80 for BSFp and BSFh, respectively), except for glutamic acid, proline and serine that were more digestible in the BSFh meal (P < 0.05).ConclusionsDefatted BSF meals can be considered as an excellent source of AME and digestible AA for broilers with a better efficient nutrient digestion. These considerations suggested the effective utilization of defatted BSF larvae meal in poultry feed formulation.

Standardized ileal digestible amino acids and apparent metabolizable energy content in defatted black soldier fly larvae meal fed to broiler chickens

“…The AID for Lys and Met was higher than for the whole BSFLM sample (46% and 42%, respectively) (De Marco et al 2015) but comparable with values reported for defatted BSFLM (80% and 81%, respectively) (Schiavone et al 2017). The CF content of BSFLM fed in the present study was 7.01% DM in previous evaluation (Mwaniki et al 2018) and was lower than values of 15%-35% DM reported for nondefatted (whole) BFLSM (Makkar et al 2014;De Marco et al 2015), but comparable with defatted BSFLM samples (Marono et al 2017;Schiavone et al 2017). Defatting has been shown to increase concentration of CP from 40% to 44% DM in whole BSFLM (Makkar et al 2014;Spranghers et al 2017) to a high of 65.5% DM (Schiavone et al 2017).…”

“…The CF content of BSFLM fed in the present study was 7.01% DM in previous evaluation (Mwaniki et al 2018) and was lower than values of 15%-35% DM reported for nondefatted (whole) BFLSM (Makkar et al 2014;De Marco et al 2015), but comparable with defatted BSFLM samples (Marono et al 2017;Schiavone et al 2017). Defatting has been shown to increase concentration of CP from 40% to 44% DM in whole BSFLM (Makkar et al 2014;Spranghers et al 2017) to a high of 65.5% DM (Schiavone et al 2017). The concentration of CP of the BSFLM sample tested in the present study was 57.5% DM (Mwaniki et al 2018).…”

“…Calculated by multiplying standardized ileal digestibility (%) by the concentrations of the CP and AA in BSFLM reported by Mwaniki et al (2018). concentration to typical animal and plant protein sources used in poultry feed (De Marco et al 2015;Schiavone et al 2017).…”

“…However, in general there is a dearth of information on digestible AA and apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen (AMEn) data for BSFLM. Where data do exist, most have been reported based on apparent ileal digestibility (AID) as opposed to standardized ileal digestibility (SID) estimates (De Marco et al 2015;Schiavone et al 2017). It has been suggested that SID estimates should be used in formulating poultry diets because these are additive in a mixture of feedstuffs compared with AID estimates (Angkanaporn et al 1996).…”

Influence of dietary black soldier fly ( Hermetia illucens Linnaeus) pulp on growth performance, antioxidant capacity and intestinal health of juvenile mirror carp ( Cyprinus carpio var. specularis)

“…Black soldier fly ( Hermetia illucens L.; BSF), distributed throughout the tropics and warm temperate regions, is a promising species for aquaculture feed. The larvae contain a well‐balanced essential amino acid profile, and their amino acid composition is superior to that of soybean (Cullere et al, ; Li et al, ; Schiavone et al, ; Veldkamp et al, ). Its fatty acid profile is similar to that of many plant oils, and linoleic acid concentration is much greater than that of α‐linolenic acid (Tran, Heuzé, & Makkar, ).…”