Meat Quality and Sensory Traits of Finisher Broiler Chickens Fed with Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia Illucens L.) Larvae Fat as Alternative Fat Source

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Insects represent a promising feed ingredient for poultry diets, as an alternative to the conventional feedstuffs. Once the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens; HI) larvae are collected, they are processed to obtain two main products: the protein and the fat fractions. Currently, the possible utilization of the fat fraction in poultry diets has only partly been investigated, providing encouraging results in terms of chickens’ performance, health status, intestinal morphology and histological features. However, its effect on meat quality, which is extremely important from the consumer’s point of view, has scarcely been investigated yet. Therefore, the present research studied the effect of 0%, 50% and 100% dietary replacement of soybean oil with HI larvae fat on the quality and sensory characteristics of chicken meat. Overall results were comparable among the three dietary groups, suggesting that HI larvae fat can be considered a promising sustainable ingredient for poultry diets which can feasibly be used for feed formulations. However, the fat composition of the larvae is sub-optimal for providing healthy meat for the modern consumer. For this reason, further research to solve this drawback is needed. ABSTRACT: At present, there is limited knowledge about the possible utilization of the fat fraction derived from Hermetia illucens (HI) larvae processing. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the replacement of soybean oil with HI larvae fat in broiler finisher diet, on the quality and sensory traits of their meat. At 21 days of age, 120 male broiler chickens were randomly allocated to three experimental groups (5 replicates and 8 birds/pen): a basal control diet (C), and two groups in which either 50% or 100% of the soybean oil was replaced with HI larvae fat (the HI50 and HI100 group, respectively). At day 48, 15 birds (3 birds/pen) per group were slaughtered, and breasts and legs were excised and used for meat quality evaluations. Breast and leg physical meat quality, nutritional composition and sensory profile remained substantially unaffected by the dietary treatments. In contrast, the dietary incorporation of HI larvae fat modified the fatty acid (FA) profile of both the breast and leg meat cuts: the proportion of saturated fatty acids increased (p < 0.0001) to the detriment of the polyunsaturated (PUFA) fraction (p < 0.0001). Moreover, the meat n-6/n-3 ratio increased in the HI50 and HI100 groups compared to the C group. HI larvae fat dietary inclusion decreased the monounsaturated fatty acids in the breast (p = 0.0012) but not in the leg meat. Further research should focus on the improvement of the FA profile of the larvae through substrate modulation, or by combining HI larvae with a PUFA-rich feedstuff in feed formulations.