Effects of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens L.) as feed supplements on muscle nutrient composition, meat quality, and antioxidant capacity in Qianbei goat.

Objective: Black soldier fly (BSF) as an animal protein feed source is currently becoming a hot research topic. This study investigated the effects of the BSF as a protein feed source for goats on slaughter performance, muscle nutrient composition, amino acids, fatty acids, minerals, and antioxidant levels.

Methods: Thirty Qianbei Ma goats (20.30±1.09 kg) were randomly divided into three groups: the control group (GRPC) supplemented with 10% full-fat soybean, treatment 1 (GRPU) supplemented with 10% untreated BSF, and treatment 2 (GRPT) supplemented with 10% heat-treated BSF. One-way analysis of variance among groups (with Fisher's least significant difference post hoc comparison) was used in this study.

Results: The nutrients, amino acids, fatty acids, minerals, and antioxidants in muscle were analyzed. The results showed that there were no significant differences in the moisture, dry matter, crude protein, ash, amino acids, and mineral content of the muscles among the three feeding groups. The slaughter rate and carcass weight of the GRPU and GRPT groups were significantly lower (p<0.05). The overall meat quality of the GRPU and GRPT groups decreased (p<0.05). The individual unsaturated fatty acids and total unsaturated fatty acids in the GRPU group were higher (p<0.05) than those in the GRPC and GRPT groups. Both GRPU and GRPT decreased (p<0.05) the antioxidant capacity of the meat.

Conclusion: Therefore, the heat-treated BSF had a better effect on meat quality compared to untreated BSF, but there were greater negative effects on the meat quality of GRPU and GRPT than GRPC.