Quality and Consumer Acceptance of Meat from Rabbits Fed Diets in Which Soybean Oil is Replaced with Black Soldier Fly and Yellow Mealworm Fats

摘要

Simple SummaryInsect lipids are an interesting, potential feed ingredient for animal farming and maybe a suitable alternative to less eco-friendly fat sources (i.e., soybean, palm kernel, coconut, and fish oil). The possible utilization of insect fats in rabbit diets has been poorly investigated so far, and only a few papers that show encouraging results, in terms of growth performance, diet digestibility, and the intestinal morphology of rabbits, are available. The present study evaluated the effect of a partial (50%) or total (100%) substitution of soybean oil by two insect fats (Black soldier fly, H and Yellow mealworm, T) on the characteristics, proximate composition, lipid peroxidation, and fatty acid profile of the meat of rabbits, as well as on consumer acceptance. The results are encouraging as the meat of the rabbits fed the diets containing insect fats was less susceptible to oxidation, while the meat of the rabbits given diets with H fat had higher concentrations of saturated fatty acid rate and a lower polyunsaturated fatty acid rate than those fed the diets with soybean and T fat. Overall, these results highlighted the possibility of replacing soybean oil with H and T fats in rabbit diets without affecting consumer acceptance.