Omotoso Adewunmi, Werner Elena, Hautkapp Nils, Rodehutscord Markus, Siegert Wolfgang
Department of Animal Sciences, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.
Alpha-Protein GmbH, Bruchsal, Germany.
J Sci Food Agric. 2025 Sep 22. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.70196.
The effects of harvest weights on composition, amino acid (AA) digestibility and metabolizable energy (ME) of Tenebrio molitor (TM) were investigated using cecectomized laying hens. The partially defatted and dried TM variants comprised median individual frass-free harvest weights of 60, 80, 100, and 120 mg of larvae, and a pupae weight of 125 mg. Diets containing the five TM variants and a basal diet were fed to six cecectomized laying hens over six experimental periods in a 6 × 6 Latin square design.
The AA concentrations relative to crude protein were similar among the TM larvae variants. Crude protein and crude fat contents did not differ between the larvae variants. Pupae had a lower crude protein and a higher crude fat concentration compared to the larvae variants. The AA concentrations in the fat-free dry matter of TM were low for all harvest weights. Larvae variants did not differ in AA digestibility, whereas pupae showed the highest values. Compared with pupae, larvae had a lower digestibility (P ≤ 0.050) for all AA except Arg and Thr in L60; Arg, Asx, Glx, Lys, and Thr in L100, and all AA except Arg, Asx, Glx, Leu, Phe, Pro, and Thr in L120. The ME did not differ among larvae variants but was higher for the pupae (P ≤ 0.050).
The present study did not indicate that partially defatted TM larvae of different harvest weights influenced AA digestibility and ME, whereas AA digestibility and ME of pupae was higher. Feeding partially defatted TM pupae instead of larvae could reduce nitrogenous emissions during egg production, provided that emissions from pupae production remain low. Therefore, optimizing the defatting process for TM pupae may help mitigate challenges associated with the higher fat content, potentially enabling the realization of the benefits from its higher AA digestibility in feed applications. © 2025 The Author(s). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
使用切除盲肠的蛋鸡研究了黄粉虫（TM）收获重量对其组成、氨基酸（AA）消化率和代谢能（ME）的影响。部分脱脂和干燥的TM变体包括幼虫个体无粪便收获重量中位数分别为60、80、100和120毫克，以及蛹重125毫克。含五种TM变体的日粮和基础日粮，按照6×6拉丁方设计，在六个实验期内饲喂六只切除盲肠的蛋鸡。
TM幼虫变体中相对于粗蛋白的AA浓度相似。幼虫变体之间的粗蛋白和粗脂肪含量没有差异。与幼虫变体相比，蛹的粗蛋白含量较低，粗脂肪浓度较高。所有收获重量下TM的无脂干物质中的AA浓度都很低。幼虫变体的AA消化率没有差异，而蛹的AA消化率最高。与蛹相比，除L60中的精氨酸（Arg）和苏氨酸（Thr）、L100中的Arg、天冬氨酸（Asx）、谷氨酸（Glx）、赖氨酸（Lys）和Thr以及L120中的除Arg、Asx、Glx、亮氨酸（Leu）、苯丙氨酸（Phe）、脯氨酸（Pro）和Thr之外的所有AA外，幼虫对所有AA的消化率都较低（P≤0.050）。幼虫变体之间的ME没有差异，但蛹的ME较高（P≤0.050）。
本研究未表明不同收获重量的部分脱脂TM幼虫会影响AA消化率和ME，而蛹的AA消化率和ME较高。如果蛹生产过程中的排放仍然较低，饲喂部分脱脂的TM蛹而不是幼虫可以减少产蛋期间的氮排放。因此，优化TM蛹的脱脂工艺可能有助于缓解与较高脂肪含量相关的挑战，有可能在饲料应用中实现其较高AA消化率带来的益处。©2025作者。《食品与农业科学杂志》由约翰·威利父子有限公司代表化学工业协会出版。
