Institute of Animal Nutrition and Nutrition Physiology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, 35392 Giessen, Germany.
Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine (ITEM), Hannover, 30625 Germany.
Poult Sci. 2024 May;103(5):103635. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2024.103635. Epub 2024 Mar 8.
Despite the existence of a number of studies investigating the effect of insect meal on the growth performance of broilers, knowledge about the metabolic effects of insect meal in broilers is still scarce. Thus, the present study investigated the effect of partial replacement of soybean meal with Hermetia illucens (HI) larvae meal on the liver transcriptome, the plasma metabolome, and the cecal microbiota in broilers. For the study, 72 male one-day-old Cobb 500 broilers were divided into three groups and fed 3 different diets with either 0% (HI0), 7.5% (HI7.5), or 15% (HI15) defatted HI meal for 35 d. Each group consisted of 6 cages (replicates) with 4 broilers/cage. While body weight (BW) gain, feed intake, and feed:gain ratio did not differ between groups, breast muscle weight, carcass yield, and apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of 5 amino acids were higher in group HI15 than in group HI0 (P < 0.05). Indicators of α-diversity (Chao1 and Observed) in the cecal digesta were higher in groups HI15 and HI7.5 than in group HI0 (P < 0.05). The abundance of 5 families and 18 genera, all of which belonged to the Firmicutes phylum, in the cecal digesta differed among groups (P < 0.05). Concentrations of butyric acid, valeric acid, and isobutyric acid in the cecal digesta were lower in group HI15 than in the other 2 groups (P < 0.05), whereas those of total and other short-chain fatty acids were not different between groups. Liver transcriptomics revealed a total of 70 and 61 differentially expressed transcripts between groups HI15 vs. HI0 and between groups HI7.5 vs. HI0, respectively, (P < 0.05). Targeted metabolomics identified 138 metabolites, most of which were triglyceride species, being different between the 3 groups (FDR < 0.05). According to this study, dietary inclusion of HI larvae meal has no detrimental impact but increases breast muscle weight and carcass weight in broilers suggesting that HI larvae meal can be recommended as a sustainable alternative protein source for broilers.
尽管有许多研究探讨了昆虫粉对肉鸡生长性能的影响，但关于昆虫粉在肉鸡中的代谢作用的知识仍然有限。因此，本研究调查了部分替代豆粕的黄粉虫幼虫粉对肉鸡肝脏转录组、血浆代谢组和盲肠微生物群的影响。为此，将 72 只 1 日龄雄性科布 500 肉鸡分为 3 组，分别用 0%（HI0）、7.5%（HI7.5）和 15%（HI15）脱脂黄粉虫幼虫粉喂养 35 天。每组由 6 个笼子（重复）组成，每个笼子有 4 只肉鸡。虽然各组之间的体重（BW）增加、饲料摄入和饲料：增重比没有差异，但 HI15 组的胸肌重量、屠体产率和 5 种氨基酸的表观回肠消化率（AID）高于 HI0 组（P<0.05）。盲肠内容物的 α 多样性（Chao1 和 Observed）指标在 HI15 和 HI7.5 组高于 HI0 组（P<0.05）。盲肠内容物中 5 个科和 18 个属的丰度在组间存在差异，所有这些属都属于厚壁菌门（Firmicutes）（P<0.05）。盲肠内容物中丁酸、戊酸和异丁酸的浓度在 HI15 组低于其他 2 组（P<0.05），而总短链脂肪酸和其他短链脂肪酸的浓度在组间没有差异。肝脏转录组学显示，HI15 组与 HI0 组和 HI7.5 组与 HI0 组之间分别有 70 个和 61 个差异表达转录本（P<0.05）。靶向代谢组学鉴定出 138 种代谢物，其中大多数是甘油三酯物种，在 3 组之间存在差异（FDR<0.05）。根据这项研究，饲料中添加黄粉虫幼虫粉不会产生不良影响，但会增加肉鸡的胸肌重量和屠体重量，这表明黄粉虫幼虫粉可以作为肉鸡的可持续替代蛋白质来源。
