Evaluation of Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) Larvae Meal as an Alternative Protein Source in Broiler Chicken Diets: Effect on Carcass and Eating Quality of Broiler Chicken

Abstract

An experiment was conducted using broiler finishers to determine the effects of black soldier fly larvae meal (BSFLM) in broiler rations on the sensory and carcass characteristics of the birds. A total of eight broiler chickens were randomly selected from 40 birds fed diets containing 0% (control) and 33% replacement of fish meal with BSFLM. At 56 days of age, eight birds were slaughtered after 8-hour feed withdrawal, dressed, eviscerated and chilled for 24 h. The cold carcasses were also sectioned into various carcass joints and weighed. The breast muscles were used for sensory analysis while the thigh muscles were used for laboratory analyses. The results indicated that BSFLM inclusion up to 33% replacing commercial fish meal did not (P>0.05) adversely affect the carcass and sensory characteristics of the meat. However, proximate composition results indicated higher (P<0.001) protein content in birds fed BSFLM-based diet than their control counterparts. Dry matter, fat and ash contents were similar (P>0.05) between the control birds and the birds fed BSFLM-based diet. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that replacing fish meal with BSFLM up to 33.3% had no adverse effects on eating quality and improved protein content of the meat.

Keywords: black soldier fly, broiler chickens, carcass yield, larvae, sensory

Cite this Article Mohammed A. Evaluation of Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae meal as an alternative protein source in broiler chicken diets: Effect on carcass and eating quality of broiler chicken. Research & Reviews: Journal of Food Science and Technology. 2017; 6(3): 18–21p.