Black Soldier Fly Larva Fat in Broiler Chicken Diets Affects Breast Meat Quality

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Insect fat has been well established as a viable dietary energy source that can replace commonly used and environmentally harmful plant and animal fats in livestock nutrition. The use of black soldier fly (BSF) larvae fat in broiler chicken diets resulted in comparable growth performance parameters to those achieved with dietary soybean oil. Thus, there is a possibility to fully replace soybean oil without detrimental effects. This is mainly because the energy densities of the abovementioned dietary fats are similar. However, there is still a need to expand our knowledge about the impact of using H. illucens fat in poultry diets on the quality of the final products, including meat. The results of the present study confirmed that BSF larvae fat affects the fatty acid profile of breast muscle, particularly in terms of n3 deficiency. Simultaneously, no significant effect on atherogenic and thrombogenic indices was noticed. Moreover, insect fat does not impair the physicochemical indices, i.e., color, pH, and water-holding capacity, to such an extent as to limit the choice of the product by the consumer. ABSTRACT: This study aimed to evaluate the dose-dependent effect of black soldier fly (BFL) larvae fat inclusion in broiler chicken diets on breast meat quality. Four hundred 1-day-old male birds (Ross 308) were assigned to the following four treatments (10 replicates with 10 birds each): HI0, a basal diet without dietary fat inclusion, and HI03, HI06, and HI09, basal diets enriched with 30 g/kg, 60 g/kg, and 90 g/kg of BSF larvae fat, respectively. Principal component analysis showed noticeable differentiation between the selected plant, animal, and insect-origin dietary fats. The BSF fat exhibits a strong relationship with saturated fatty acids (SFAs), resulting in a high concentration of C12:0 and C14:0. The fatty acid (FA) profile in breast muscle obtained from broilers fed diets with increasing insect fat inclusion showed a significant linear effect in terms of C12:0, C15:0, C18:2, C18:3n6, and total FAs. The proportion of dietary insect fat had a quadratic effect on meat color. The water-holding capacity indices have stayed consistent with the meat color changes. Throughout the experiment, favorable growth performance results were noticed in HI06. The present study confirmed that BSF larvae fat negatively affects the n3 level in meat. However, the physicochemical indices related to consumer acceptance were not altered to negatively limit their final decision, even when a relatively high inclusion of insect fat was used.