Study published in “Animal”, the international journal of animal biosciences.
This article is the result of the collaborative work of CREA Agriculture and Environment – Sericulture Laboratory in Padua and the University of Padua (MAPS and DAFNAE departments).
Effect of a dietary inclusion of full-fat or defatted silkworm pupa meal on the nutrient digestibility and faecal microbiome of fattening quails
Silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) pupae are a by-product derived from silk production, which is often treated as waste and thus discarded: this can cause serious environmental problems and a loss of nutrients.
Silkworm pupae are a rich source of protein and lipids, and the resulting protein meal can provide promising outcomes as livestock feed, notably for monogastric species.
However, one possible issue that needs to be considered is the possible implication of the 1-Deoxynojirimycin (1-DNJ), a bio-compound of the silkworm that impairs glucose absorption, in poultry nutrition. Therefore, the present study evaluated the effect of the dietary inclusion of full-fat or defatted silkworm pupa meal (SWM) on the apparent digestibility of nutrients, feed choice and faecal microbiome in meat-producing quails.
For the digestibility trial, a total of thirty-three 27-day-old Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were individually housed in digestibility cages and received three experimental diets: a control diet (control, commercial feed for fattening quails), and two other diets containing the 12.5% of either a full-fat SWM (SWM-FULL) or a defatted SWM (SWM-DEF). Subsequently, twenty-seven 33-day-old quails were simultaneously provided with Control, SWM-FULL and SWM-DEF diets for a 10-day feed choice trial.
The results of the digestibility trial showed that the DM intake and excreta production were higher in both SWM groups than in the Control one (P < 0.001). The apparent digestibility of DM, organic matter, CP, ether extract, starch and energy was lower in both SWM groups than in the control group (P < 0.001), suggesting the possible implication of chitin and 1-DNJ.
The feed choice test showed that quails preferred the Control diet (P < 0.001).
From the microbiome analysis of the excreta, families such as Streptococcaceae (P < 0.05), Rikenellaceae and Eubacteriaceae (P < 0.01) and taxa at species level such as Lactobacillus delbrueckii (P < 0.05), Aneurinibacillus thermoaerophilus and Bacillus thermoamylovorans (P < 0.01) scored higher in SWM-FULL quails than in SWM-DEF and Control treatments.
The present study demonstrated that a successful dietary inclusion of SWM for fattening quails needs to overcome the digestive criticalities caused by the of presence specific bio-compounds, namely chitin and 1-DNJ.
Authors:
Antonella Dalle Zotte (a), Y. Singh (a), A. Squartini (b), P. Stevanato (b), Silvia Cappellozza (c), A. Kovitvadhi (d), S. Subaneg (a,d), D. Bertelli (e), M. Cullere (a)
a. Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health (MAPS) – University of Padova, Agripolis – Italy
b. Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE) – University of Padova, Agripolis – Italy
c. Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Research Centre for Agriculture and Environment (CREA – AA) – Sericulture Laboratory of Padua – Italy
d. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine – Kasetsart University (Bangkok) – Thailand
e. Department of Life Sciences – University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Modena) – Italy
Further information:
> Online article
> Article | Download PDF
“Animal – The international journal of animal biosciences” is published monthly by Cambridge University Press. It is owned by the British Society of Animal Science (BSAS), Institut national de la recherche agronomica (INRA) and the European Association for Animal Production (EAAP).