Local intestinal microbiota response and systemic effects of feeding black soldier fly larvae to replace soybean meal in growing pigs

Abstract

Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens; BSF) larvae as dietary protein source have the ability to deliver nutrients and could possess functional properties that positively support animal productivity and health. More knowledge, however, is needed to assess the impact of feeding a BSF based diet on gut and animal health. Sixteen post-weaned male pigs were randomly assigned to two groups and fed for three weeks with iso-caloric and iso-proteinaceous experimental diets prepared with either soybean meal (SBM) as reference protein source or with BSF as single source of dietary protein. At the end of the trial, the pigs were sacrificed to collect relevant digesta, gut tissue and blood samples to study changes induced by the dietary treatments using ~ omics based analyses. Inclusion of BSF in the diet supports the development of the intestinal microbiome that could positively influence intestinal health. By amine metabolite analysis, we identified two metabolites i.e. sarcosine and methionine sulfoxide, in plasma that serve as markers for the ingestion of insect based ingredients. BSF seems to possess functional properties indicated by the appearance of alpha-aminobutyric acid and taurine in blood plasma of pigs that are known to induce health beneficial effects.

Insect as feed ingredients for pigs

“…Weaning [32.33] Belgium Weaning [29] Russia Growing [30] Netherlands Growing [34] Finishing [35] Germany BSF larvae (Hermetia illucens)…”

“…conducted actively [29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. Among the swine studies, Altmann et al [31] and Chia et al [35] have investigated the supplemental effects of BSF larvae on growth performance and carcass characteristics of finishing pigs.…”

“…Among the swine studies, Altmann et al [ 31 ] and Chia et al [ 35 ] have investigated the supplemental effects of BSF larvae on growth performance and carcass characteristics of finishing pigs. On the other hand, there are some growing pig studies for investigating the dietary effects of TM larvae on the metabolic response [ 36 ], antioxidant or stress response [ 37 ], and microbiota response [ 34 ]. In North America, such as Canada and United States, animal research has been mainly conducted on BSF larvae.…”

“…Furthermore, dietary BSF larvae meal up to 10% positively affected the gut maturity by small intestinal mucin composition without any adverse effects on the histological score in the gut of the piglets. Similarly, Kar et al [ 34 ] reported that dietary BSF larvae meal induced a more enriched small intestinal microbiome of growing pigs compared to dietary SBM in regard to a healthy gut status in pigs. In addition, dietary BSF larvae meal did not cause a systemic inflammatory response such as pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines.…”

Edible insects: Challenges and prospects

“…Black soldier fly larvae can partly replace soybean meal, and in addition may have interesting functional properties (Kar et al 2021). Beneficial effects of black soldier fly larvae intake on weaned pigs are diarrhea reduction, better immune response, and improved small intestinal morphology (Choi et al 2020).…”