This study evaluated the effects of a diet containing yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor L.; TM) larva meal on quality parameters (pH24, color and drip losses), proximate composition and fatty acid (FA) profile of meat from free-range chickens. A total of 140 medium-growing hybrid female chickens were free-range reared and randomly allotted to two dietary treatments: a control group and a TM group, in which TM meal was included at 75 g kg−1 as fed in substitution of corn gluten meal. Each group consisted of five pens as replicates, with 14 chicks per pen. At 97 days of age, ten birds (two birds/pen) from each feeding group were slaughtered at a commercial abattoir. Quality parameters and proximate composition of breast and thigh meat were not affected by treatment. The effects of dietary TM larva meal on the FA profile of thigh meat were negligible. Breast meat from TM-fed chickens showed higher oleic and α-linolenic acid percentages as well as lower atherogenicity and thrombogenicity indexes. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that TM inclusion in diets for free-range chickens did not prejudice meat quality traits. The obtained results confirm that TM can be considered a promising insect protein source for the poultry feed industry.

中文翻译：

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散养鸡日粮中添加黄粉虫 (Tenebrio molitor L.) 幼虫：对肉质和脂肪酸谱的影响

这项研究评估了含有黄粉虫的饮食的影响（黄粉虫L.; TM) 质量参数 (pH) 上的幼虫粉24、颜色和滴水损失）、散养鸡肉的近似成分和脂肪酸（FA）分布。共放养140只中等生长的杂交母鸡，随机分配到两个日粮处理组：对照组和TM组，其中TM粕75 g/kg。-1代替玉米蛋白粉喂食。每组由 5 个重复的栏组成，每栏有 14 只小鸡。在 97 日龄时，来自每个饲养组的 10 只鸡（两只鸡/栏）在商业屠宰场被屠宰。胸肉和大腿肉的质量参数和近似成分不受处理的影响。日粮 TM 幼虫粉对大腿肉 FA 分布的影响可以忽略不计。TM 喂养鸡的胸肉显示出较高的油酸和 α-亚麻酸百分比以及较低的致动脉粥样硬化和血栓形成指数。总之，这项研究表明，在散养鸡的日粮中添加 TM 不会影响肉质特征。获得的结果证实，TM 可以被认为是家禽饲料行业有前途的昆虫蛋白来源。