The role of insects in promoting the health and gut status of poultry

Abstract

The structure and functionality of digestive system and gastrointestinal microbiota composition play a crucial role in the development of the gastrointestinal tract and gut morphology. A well-developed gastrointestinal tract will have a proper balanced proportion between the beneficial and harmful microbes; therefore, this balance will promote nutrient utilization and stimulate the development of immune system. The gut microbiota living in an animal’s gastrointestinal tract can be modulated through the feeding of prebiotic or probiotic compounds which have effects on the animal’s humoral immunity, hence improving the nutrient utilization and thus improving growth performance and the overall health condition of the animal. Therefore, this review aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding and recent reports on the role of insect meal in poultry feed aimed at improving health condition and gut status in poultry production. A literature search was performed with an electronic database of Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Research gate, Web of Science, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and PubMed. In addition, recently published manuscripts were selected, and the citations included in articles from the databases were used to search for other relevant articles. The studies were evaluated, and the level of evidence varied with insect types, inclusion levels, and the supplementing method. Extensive research has shown that insects can be safely used in poultry feeds to modulate the development of digestive and immune system without compromising the production parameters and the quality of the produce. Insects can be directly fed to chickens or can be processed into insect meals and supplemented in the diet. Nonetheless, most literatures done on the effects of insect meal are focused commercial chicken breeds and little attention is given to other poultry species; therefore, more studies are recommended to ascertain these findings.

Copping out of novel feeds: HOW climate change pledgers and food summits overlooked insect protein

“…Insofar as nutrient composition, environmental impact and climate change are concerned, the argument made here is that the legislation of insect meals in monogastric rations is vital. Introducing novel and sustainable feedstuff sovereignty constitutes a comprehensive approach aimed at transforming animal production systems and acknowledging the current role of sustainable animal production [ 2 , 72 , 74 ]. In addition to their highly nutritive values, insect meals present a strategic way of converting food waste biomass into valuable feedstuff, thus reducing methane formation.…”

The influence of different production systems on welfare in a new layer hybrid

“…Detilleux et al ( 2022) further explained that the addition of black soldier ies to chickens' diets may enhance their growth performance traits by changing the gut microbiota. Insects are made up of valuable nutrients and bioactive compounds which are known to modulate the gut functionality as well as the gut microbiota, which could optimize the growth performance as well as the overall health condition of birds (Malematja et al 2023). Similar to our ndings, Sekeroglu et al ( 2010) also reported that hens in the free range system had some advantages over those in the oor and cage system in terms of 5% yield age weight.…”

Effect of dietary housefly maggot extract on egg production and egg quality in laying hens under a digital livestock system

“…The enhanced bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus in the poultry caecum allow the bifidogenic effects to selectively stimu- (Jozefiak and Engberg 2017). Lactobacillus is the dominant species of microbiota in the guts of animals that can inhibit the growth of pathogens by maintaining microbiota balance and an acidic environment in the guts of poultry (Malematja et al 2023). The higher counts of faecal microbiota Lactobacillus, as well as lower amounts of coliforms, total aerobic bacteria, and E. coli in the HME groups, may also be attributed to the action mechanisms of the antimicrobial peptides in HME (Park et al 2010;Makkar et al 2014).…”

“…The higher counts of faecal microbiota Lactobacillus, as well as lower amounts of coliforms, total aerobic bacteria, and E. coli in the HME groups, may also be attributed to the action mechanisms of the antimicrobial peptides in HME (Park et al 2010;Makkar et al 2014). The antimicrobial peptides are known to stimulate the growths of bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus by destroying the transmembrane potentials of harmful bacteria, thus enhancing immunity (Cheng et al 2014;Rodrigues et al 2022;Malematja et al 2023). The bifidogenic effects of selectively stimulating the growths of bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus, which are beneficial to animal health, further inhibit the growth of harmful strains (Park et al 2010).…”