Cited by 263Insect Utilization and EffectsAnimal Nutrition and PhysiologyGut microbiota and health

Insect-based diet, a promising nutritional source, modulates gut microbiota composition and SCFAs production in laying hens.

Open access
Borrelli, Luca, Coretti, Lorena, Dipineto, Ludovico, Bovera, Fulvia, Menna, Francesca, Chiariotti, Lorenzo, Nizza, Antonio, Lembo, Francesca +1 more·2017·Scientific Reports

Abstract

Insects could be potential nutritional sources both for humans and animals. Among these, Hermetia illucens, with good amount of chitin and proteins, represents a suitable diet replacement for laying hens. Little is known about insect diet effects on the microbial ecology of the gastrointestinal tract and bacterial metabolites production. In this study we investigated the effect of H. illucens larvae meal administration on cecal microbiota and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) production in laying hens. 16S rDNA sequencing showed strong differences between cecal microbiota of soybean (SD) and insect diet (ID) groups both in type and relative abundance (unweighted and weighted beta diversity) of microbial species. In particular, Bacteroides plebeius, Elusimicrobium minutum, Alkaliphilus transvaalensis, Christensenella minuta, Vallitalea guaymasensis and Flavonifractor plautii represented the principal contributors of changes in gut microbiota composition of ID group (FDR p-values < 0.05). Of these, F. plautii, C. minuta and A. transvaalensis have the potential to degrade the chitin’s insect meal and correlated with the observed high levels of gut SCFAs produced in ID group. These microorganisms may thus connect the chitin degradation with high SCFAs production. Our results suggest H. illucens as a potential prebiotic by well feeding gut microbiota.

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  • Hermetia illucens contains chitin, which exhibits antimicrobial properties.

    “HI contains chitin which exhibits antimicrobial properties (Borrelli et al., 2017).”

    From Insect Derived Lauric Acid as Promising Alternative Strategy to Antibiotics in the Antimicrobial Resistance Scenario (2021) · cites this paper as Borrelli et al., 2017

    The Introduction says black soldier flies contain chitin and that chitin or its derivatives seem to exhibit antimicrobial properties. The citing sentence states the antimicrobial property as established and attributes it specifically to chitin, without the source’s uncertainty or allowance for derivatives. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Insect diet might promote metabolic shifts, including increased production of microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate, acetate, and propionate.

    “Insect diet might also promote metabolic shifts, including the increased production of microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) such as butyrate, acetate, and propionate (Borrelli et al., 2017)”

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [28]Rosa, B. A., Hallsworth-Pepin, K., Martin, J., Wollam, A. & Mitreva, M. Genome Sequence of Christensenella minuta DSM 22607T. Genome Announc. 5 (2017). PMC5256218 28082495

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Authors
Borrelli, L., Coretti, L., Dipineto, L., Bovera, F., Menna, F., Chiariotti, L., Nizza, A., Lembo, F., & Fioretti, A.
Affiliations
  • University of Naples Federico II (IT)
  • Institute for Experimental Endocrinology and Oncology (IT)
Corresponding author
Borrelli, Luca
Venue
Scientific Reports
Published
2017-11-24
Volume
7
Issue
1
Pages
16269-16269
ISSN
2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2768218657
Cited by
263
References
60
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 7
FWCI
17.53
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Università degli Studi di Firenze
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Insect Science › Insect Utilization and Effects
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Animal Nutrition and Physiology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
Keywords
Hermetia illucens, insect meal, laying hens, gut microbiota, short-chain fatty acids, cecal microbiota, chitin degradation, prebiotics, soybean diet, Flavonifractor plautii, Christensenella minuta, Bacteroides plebeius, poultry nutrition
MeSH terms
Gastrointestinal Microbiome, Animals, Animal Feed, Chickens, Diet, Fatty Acids, Volatile, Female, Insecta

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