Partially defatted black soldier fly larva meal inclusion in piglet diets: effects on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profile, gut morphology and histological features

Ilaria Biasato; Manuela Renna; Francesco Gai; Sihem Dabbou; Marco Meneguz; Giovanni Perona; Silvia Martinez; Ana Cristina Barroeta Lajusticia; Stefania Bergagna; Luca Sardi; Maria Teresa Capucchio; Enrico Bressan; Andrea Dama; Achille Schiavone; Laura Gasco

doi:10.1186/s40104-019-0325-x

Partially defatted black soldier fly larva meal inclusion in piglet diets: effects on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profile, gut morphology and histological features

J Anim Sci Biotechnol. 2019 Feb 19:10:12. doi: 10.1186/s40104-019-0325-x. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ 1Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, University of Turin, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, (TO) Italy.
² 2Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, (TO) Turin Italy.
³ 3National Research Council, Institute of Science of Food Production, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, (TO) Italy.
⁴ 4SDSV - Teaching Structure of Veterinary Medicine, University of Turin, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, (TO) Italy.
⁵ 5Department of Animal Production, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30071 Murcia, Spain.
⁶ 6Department of Animal and Food Science, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona Spain.
⁷ Veterinary Medical Research Institute for Piemonte, Liguria and the Valle D'Aosta, Via Bologna 148, 10154 Turin, Italy.
⁸ 8Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra 50, 40064 Ozzano dell'Emilia, (BO) Italy.

Abstract

Background: The aim of this trial was to investigate the effects of different inclusion levels of a partially defatted black soldier fly (BSF, Hermetia illucens L.) larva meal on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profile, gut morphology and histological features of piglets. A total of 48 newly weaned piglets were individually weighed (initial body weight (IBW): 6.1 ± 0.16 kg) and randomly allocated to 3 dietary treatments (4 boxes as replicates/treatment and 4 animals/box). BSF larva meal was included at increasing levels (0% [BSF0], 5% [BSF5] and 10% [BSF10]) in isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets formulated for two feeding phases: I (from d 1 to d 23) and II (from d 24 to d 61). The weight gain (WG), average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated for each feeding phase and for the whole trial. The haematochemical parameters and nutrient digestibility of the piglets were also evaluated. A total of 3 piglets per box were slaughtered on d 61 and the slaughtered piglets were submitted to morphometric investigations and histopathological examinations.

Results: No overall significant differences were observed for growth performance (P > 0.05), except for the ADFI of phase II, which showed a linear response to increasing BSF meal levels (P < 0.05, maximum for the BSF10 group). Dietary BSF meal inclusion did not significantly influence the blood profile, except as far as monocytes and neutrophils are concerned, and these showed a linear and quadratic response, respectively, to increasing BSF meal levels (P < 0.05, maximum for the BSF10 and BSF5 groups, respectively). On the other hand, the nutrient digestibility, gut morphology and histological features were not affected by dietary BSF meal inclusion (P > 0.05).

Conclusions: The obtained results show that a partially defatted BSF larva meal can be used as a feed ingredient in diets for weaned piglets without negatively affecting their growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profile, gut morphology or histological features.

Keywords: Hermetia illucens L.; Histopathology; Insect meal; Performance; Weaning pigs.