Abenaim Linda, Conti Barbara
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
Insects. 2025 Aug 1;16(8):799. doi: 10.3390/insects16080799.
In recent years, edible insects have gained significant attention as a sustainable and innovative source of feed for animal nutrition due to their excellent content of protein, fats, vitamins, and chitin. Among these, chitin is the least studied nutritional component, despite its promising properties and potential benefits. Chitin, an important polysaccharide found in the exoskeleton of arthropods, including insects, presents both negative and positive aspects in animal nutrition. As is known, the main drawback is its digestibility, which varies among livestock animal species depending on their ability to produce chitinase. However, chitin also exhibits benefits, including the enhancement of gut microbiota and immune response, together with the reduction in cholesterol and pathogen levels in animals. This review aims to summarise the current knowledge on the effects of chitin derived from edible insects on animal nutrition by analysing both the negative aspects and benefits for the different farmed animals for which insect feeding is legally permitted (fish, poultry, and pigs), while proposing future research directions.
近年来，食用昆虫作为动物营养的可持续和创新饲料来源受到了广泛关注，因为它们含有丰富的蛋白质、脂肪、维生素和几丁质。其中，几丁质是研究最少的营养成分，尽管它具有潜在的特性和益处。几丁质是一种重要的多糖，存在于包括昆虫在内的节肢动物的外骨骼中，在动物营养中既有负面作用也有正面作用。众所周知，主要缺点是其消化率，不同家畜物种的消化率因其产生几丁质酶的能力而异。然而，几丁质也有好处，包括增强肠道微生物群和免疫反应，以及降低动物体内的胆固醇和病原体水平。本综述旨在通过分析几丁质对合法允许使用昆虫饲料的不同养殖动物（鱼、家禽和猪）的负面影响和益处，总结目前关于食用昆虫来源的几丁质对动物营养影响的知识，同时提出未来的研究方向。
