Intestinal Morphometry, Enzymatic and Microbial Activity in Laying Hens Fed Different Levels of a Hermetia illucens Larvae Meal and Toxic Elements Content of the Insect Meal and Diets

Giuseppe Moniello; Andrea Ariano; Valentina Panettieri; Francesca Tulli; Ike Olivotto; Maria Messina; Basilio Randazzo; Lorella Severino; Giovanni Piccolo; Nadia Musco; Nicola Francesco Addeo; Georges Hassoun; Fulvia Bovera

doi:10.3390/ani9030086

Intestinal Morphometry, Enzymatic and Microbial Activity in Laying Hens Fed Different Levels of a Hermetia illucens Larvae Meal and Toxic Elements Content of the Insect Meal and Diets

Animals (Basel). 2019 Mar 10;9(3):86. doi: 10.3390/ani9030086.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sassari, Via Vienna 2, 07100 Sassari, Italy. moniello@uniss.it.
² Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Napoli Federico II, via F. Delpino 1, 80137 Naples, Italy. andrea.ariano@unina.it.
³ Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Napoli Federico II, via F. Delpino 1, 80137 Naples, Italy. valentina.panettieri@unina.it.
⁴ Department of AgriFood, Environment and Animal Science, University of Udine, via Sondrio, 2, 33100 Udine, Italy. francesca.tulli@uniud.it.
⁵ Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy. i.olivotto@staff.univpm.it.
⁶ Department of AgriFood, Environment and Animal Science, University of Udine, via Sondrio, 2, 33100 Udine, Italy. maria.messina@uniud.it.
⁷ Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University Politecnica delle Marche, via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy. b.randazzo@staff.univpm.it.
⁸ Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Napoli Federico II, via F. Delpino 1, 80137 Naples, Italy. lorella.severino@unina.it.
⁹ Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Napoli Federico II, via F. Delpino 1, 80137 Naples, Italy. giovanni.piccolo@unina.it.
¹⁰ Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Napoli Federico II, via F. Delpino 1, 80137 Naples, Italy. nadia.musco@unina.it.
¹¹ Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Napoli Federico II, via F. Delpino 1, 80137 Naples, Italy. nicolafrancesco.addeo@unina.it.
¹² Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Veterinary Medicine, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon. ghassoun@ul.edu.lb.
¹³ Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Napoli Federico II, via F. Delpino 1, 80137 Naples, Italy. bovera@unina.it.

Abstract

To evaluate the effects of feeding a Hermetia illucens (HI) larvae meal on the different intestinal traits of hens, and to determine the toxic elements' concentration in the insect meal and diets, 162 hens were randomly allotted to three groups. The control received a corn-soybean meal-based diet (SBM); the HI25 and HI50 groups received two diets in which the 25% and 50% of the dietary protein were replaced by the HI protein, respectively. The duodenal and jejunal villi height and villi/crypt were higher (p < 0.01) in the SBM than in the HI groups. The ileal villi height was higher (p < 0.05) in the SBM and HI25 groups than the HI50. The HI50 group exhibited a lower duodenal maltase activity. The intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) activity linearly decreased in the duodenum and jejunum as the dietary insect meal inclusion increased. The HI50 group had a higher acetate and butyrate level than the SBM. The levels of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and arsenic (As) in the diets and insect meal were lower than the maximum values established by the EU Commission. The 25% soybean protein replacement with Hermetia illucens larvae meal in the diet of laying hens was more suitable and closer to the optimal level than 50%.

Keywords: Hermetia illucens larvae meal; brush border enzymes; intestinal alkaline phosphatase; intestinal villi height and villi/crypt ratio; laying hens; trace elements; volatile fatty acids.