P595 - EVALUATION OF HERMETIA ILLUCENS LARVAE MEAL AS THE MAIN PROTEIN SOURCE IN AN ANIMAL MODEL (CATS)

P595

EVALUATION OF HERMETIA ILLUCENS LARVAE MEAL AS THE MAIN PROTEIN SOURCE IN AN ANIMAL MODEL (CATS)

L. Penazzi^1,*, G. Bussone¹, F. Bucciol², G. Cravotto², U. Ala¹, L. Prola¹

¹Veterinary Sciences, University of Turin, Grugliasco (Turin), ²Chemistry, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

Rationale: Insect meal is a promising sustainable protein source for humans and animals, gaining relevance as protein demand grows.^1,2 This study aims to evaluate its effects on digestibility and faecal parameters in pets, which serve as ideal models due to their consistent diets and shared environment with humans.

Methods: Eight healthy adult cats participated in a digestibility trial, divided into two groups receiving either an insect-based (Hermetia illucens larvae meal) or lamb-based control diet. Both diets were formulated to be isoenergetic and isonitrogenous. The study followed a crossover design. After a 10-day adaptation phase, total faecal collection over 7 days allowed for in vivo digestibility assessment. Chemical composition was determined according to official methods of the AOAC,³ while short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) were measured by the means of HPLC. Statistical analysis was performed using a paired samples t-test and significance level was set at p<0.05.

Results: The insect-based diet resulted in significantly higher digestibility of dry matter (79.84% ± 2.5 vs 76.13% ± 3.0) and organic matter (83.42% ± 2.0 vs 79.54% ± 2.7; p<0.05), as well as crude protein (79.12% ± 2.6 vs 71.28% ± 4.1; p = 0.001), compared to the lamb-based diet. Faecal concentrations of acetic (79.9 ± 30.5 vs 43.4 ± 16.9 mmol/kg) and propionic acid (15.1 ± 5.9 vs 9.3 ± 6.7) were also significantly higher (p<0.05) in the insect-based diets, while increases in butyric (93.2 ± 46.6 vs 47.0 ± 7.8) and iso-butyric acid (19.8 ± 9.8 vs 13.3 ± 7.7) showed a statistical trend (p<0.1).

Conclusion: This study confirms that insect protein is a highly digestible ingredient alternative and capable of positively modifying faecal fermentation by-products,⁴ showing promising results in an animal model such as cats.

References:         1. Reilly et al. J Anim Sci. 2022

        2. Bosch et al. J Nutr Sci. 2014

        3. AOAC. Ass Off Analyt Chem. 2000

        4. Oliphant & Allen-Vercoe. Microbiome. 2019

Disclosure of Interest: None declared