Gut microbial communities of broiler chicken fed Black soldier fly- based diets

What is it about?

There is inadequate knowledge on the potential of black soldier fly larvae meal to transfer pathogenic and beneficial microbes present in the rearing substrates through feed and their impact on the gut health of the broiler chicken. Therefore, we focused on the assessment of the gut bacterial community dynamics (diversities) and their interactions with the host (broiler chicken) when fed on black soldier fly-based feeds through metagenomics. This information is crucial and provides insights on how to improve the practical adoption of safe insect-based products.

Featured Image

Photo by Karim MANJRA on Unsplash

Photo by Karim MANJRA on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Our findings show that black soldier fly larvae meal inclusion in the broiler diets to be a promising feed additive as a replacement for fishmeal and demonstrated the ability to enhance gut health and modulate gut microbial diversity by increasing the abundance of lactic acid producing bacteria that can also be used as probiotics and prebiotics in broiler chicken.