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.

Highlights

  • Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens; 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

  • We adopted the FeedOmics approach that uses a set of ~ omics based techniques that can measure the impact of dietary protein sources on the physiology of the host

  • Data on the presence of microbial DNA, on the host transcriptomics for RNA and on the metabolomics for amine metabolites measured at different biological levels i.e. local and systemic level provided a detailed and thorough snapshot of the response in pigs towards dietary protein source

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Summary

Introduction

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. Measuring or assessing the impact of interaction between dietary protein sources with the intestinal mucosal tissue and the resident microbiome along with the amine metabolite profiles in blood employing highthroughput ~ omics based technology is considered a useful approach to evaluate dietary protein s­ ources[20,21]. In this context, “FeedOmics” provides an essential tool kit that combines multiple ~ omics techniques to evaluate dietary protein s­ ources[22]. We measured cytokine and chemokine concentrations in blood as a reflection of the health and immune status of the pigs

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