Lu Jing, Petri Renée Maxine, MacIsaac Janice Leigh, Collins Stephanie Anne
Department Animal Science and Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University, Truro, NS, Canada.
Sherbrooke Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Sherbrook, QC, Canada.
Anim Microbiome. 2025 Jun 1;7(1):55. doi: 10.1186/s42523-025-00421-z.
Insect farming represents a sustainable loop that recycles organic wastes back to the food chain while requiring minimal inputs such as land and water. Insect products are not only low in environment footprint, but also nutrient-dense and contain health-promoting bioactives. Black soldier fly larvae meal (BSFLM) stands out as an excellent source of protein and chitin, and the latter is a polysaccharide associated with promoting gut health. A 20-week feeding trial evaluated the effects of three dietary inclusion levels of BSFLM (0%, 6.5%, and 13%), with and without protease enzyme (Concentrase-P) supplementation, on two commercial laying hen strains: Lohmann Brown-Lite (brown hens) and Lohmann LSL-Lite White (white hens). The two strains of 52-week-old hens (mean weight = 2.2 kg) were housed in one production room, with each strain distributed across 36 conventional cages (5 birds per cage). Each treatment was randomly assigned to six cages (n = 6). At the end of the trial, cecal microbiome, SCFA production and excreta composition were studied.
White hens exhibited a distinct cecal microbiome compared to brown hens (p < 0.05), characterized by enhanced diversity, increased relative abundance of Actinobacteriota, and an altered cecal SCFA profile with increased butyric acid and reduced acetic acid levels (p < 0.05). Independent from strain, both 6.5% and 13% BSFLM inclusion promoted cecal microbial richness and evenness, shifting the community to produce more acetic acid and less butyric acid (p < 0.05). Excreta analysis showed significantly higher concentrations and daily excretion of nitrogen, ammoniacal nitrogen and non-ammoniacal nitrogen in both strains on the 13% BSFLM diet. Concentrase-P supplementation effectively ameliorated the elevated nitrogen and ammoniacal nitrogen excretion linked to the 13% BSFLM diet, despite having minimal effects on the cecal microbiome and SCFA production.
Our study provides a novel perspective on the enhanced cecal microbiome diversity in laying hens fed high levels of BSFLM, linking it to suboptimal protein digestion and an undesired increase in protein fermentation, which we have demonstrated can be partially addressed by protease supplementation. Our findings highlight the need to consider interactions between host nutrition, gut microbiome, and sustainability when evaluating novel feed ingredients.
昆虫养殖是一个可持续的循环系统，它能将有机废物重新纳入食物链，同时所需的土地和水等投入极少。昆虫产品不仅环境足迹小，而且营养丰富，含有促进健康的生物活性物质。黑水虻幼虫粉（BSFLM）是蛋白质和几丁质的优质来源，后者是一种与促进肠道健康相关的多糖。一项为期20周的饲养试验评估了三种日粮添加水平（0%、6.5%和13%）的BSFLM，在添加和不添加蛋白酶（Concentrase - P）的情况下，对两种商品蛋鸡品种的影响：罗曼褐 - 轻型（褐羽鸡）和罗曼LSL - 轻型白鸡（白羽鸡）。将两组52周龄的母鸡（平均体重 = 2.2千克）饲养在一个生产车间，每个品种分布在36个传统鸡笼中（每个鸡笼5只鸡）。每种处理随机分配到六个鸡笼（n = 6）。试验结束时，研究了盲肠微生物群、短链脂肪酸产生情况和排泄物组成。
与褐羽鸡相比，白羽鸡的盲肠微生物群有明显差异（p < 0.05），其特点是多样性增强、放线菌门相对丰度增加，盲肠短链脂肪酸谱改变，丁酸增加，乙酸水平降低（p < 0.05）。与品种无关，添加6.5%和13%的BSFLM均能促进盲肠微生物的丰富度和均匀度，使群落产生更多乙酸和更少丁酸（p < 0.05）。排泄物分析表明，两种品种的鸡在13% BSFLM日粮组中的氮、氨态氮和非氨态氮浓度及日排泄量均显著更高。添加Concentrase - P有效改善了与13% BSFLM日粮相关的氮和氨态氮排泄增加的情况，尽管对盲肠微生物群和短链脂肪酸产生的影响极小。
我们的研究为高水平饲喂BSFLM的蛋鸡盲肠微生物群多样性增加提供了新视角，将其与蛋白质消化欠佳及蛋白质发酵意外增加联系起来，我们已证明补充蛋白酶可部分解决这一问题。我们的研究结果凸显了在评估新型饲料成分时考虑宿主营养、肠道微生物群和可持续性之间相互作用的必要性。
