Partial Substitution of Meat with Insect (Alphitobius diaperinus) in a Carnivore Diet Changes the Gut Microbiome and Metabolome of Healthy Rats.

Sofie Kaas Lanng,Witold Kot,Axel Kornerup Hansen,Hanne Christine Bertram,Kristine Rothaus Christensen,Dennis Sandris Nielsen,Yichang Zhang

doi:10.3390/foods10081814

Sofie Kaas Lanng, Witold Kot + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10081814

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Abstract

Insects are suggested as a sustainable protein source of high nutritional quality, but the effects of insect ingestion on processes in the gastrointestinal tract and gut microbiota (GM) remain to be established. We examined the effects of partial substitution of meat with insect protein (Alphitobius diaperinus) in a four-week dietary intervention in a healthy rat model (n = 30). GM composition was characterized using’ 16S rRNA gene amplicon profiling while the metabolomes of stomach, small intestine, and colon content, feces and blood were investigated by 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Metabolomics analyses revealed a larger escape of protein residues into the colon and a different microbial metabolization pattern of aromatic amino acids when partly substituting pork with insect. Both for rats fed a pork diet and rats fed a diet with partial replacement of pork with insect, the GM was dominated by Lactobacillus, Clostridium cluster XI and Akkermansia. However, Bray-Curtis dissimilarity metrics were different when insects were included in the diet. Introduction of insects in a common Western omnivore diet alters the gut microbiome diversity with consequences for endogenous metabolism. This finding highlights the importance of assessing gastrointestinal tract effects when evaluating new protein sources as meat replacements.

Highlights

The population of the Earth is estimated to rise to 9.6 billion people by 2050 [1] with a resultant increased demand for food
The present study reveals the necessity of establishing actions to thoroughly examine how new dietary sources, commenced for sustainability reasons, impact endogenous metabolism and gut microbiota (GM) to capture their true value in terms of nurturing human health
The present study shows that partial substitution of meat with insect protein in a traditional pork sausage over four-weeks, with same energy intake and body weight gain influence the gut microbiota composition as well as the plasma and gastrointestinal metabolite profile

Summary

Introduction

The population of the Earth is estimated to rise to 9.6 billion people by 2050 [1] with a resultant increased demand for food. The growing competition for land and water resources affects our ability to produce food and increases our need to minimize the impact of food production on our resources and environment [2]. The production of protein sources leaves a heavy impact on the environment, where meat production has a high impact regarding water consumption and emission of greenhouse gases [3]. Plant proteins have a lower environmental impact and a lower protein nutritional quality as some plant-derived proteins do not contain all essential amino acids and might contain anti-nutritional compounds [4]. The production of insect protein has a high feed conversion ratio [6], emits less greenhouse gases [7], uses less water, and requires less land compared to conventional livestock [6,8]

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