Supplementation of Tenebrio molitor larva as a Protein Source on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility and Palatability in Weaning Pig

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary Tenebrio molitor larva on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and blood characteristics in weaning pigs. A total of 120 weaning pigs (28 ± 3 days and 8.04 ± 0.08 kg of BW) were allotted to one of five treatments, based on sex and body weight, in 6 replicates with 4 pigs per pen by a randomized complete block (RCB) design. Five different levels of Tenebrio molitor larva (0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5 and 6.0 %) were used as dietary treatments. Two phase feeding programs (phase I for 0-14 day, phase II for 15-35 day) were used in this experiment. During phase I, increasing level of Tenebrio molitor larva in diet linearly improved the body weight (P<0.01), ADG (P<0.01) and ADFI (P<0.01). During phase II, ADG also tended to increase when pigs were fed higher level of Tenebrio molitor larva (P=0.08). Therefore, increasing level of Tenebrio molitor larva improved the ADG (P<0.01) and ADFI (P<0.05) and tended to increase G:F ratio (P=0.07) during overall experimental period. As dietary Tenebrio molitor larva was higher, nitrogen retention and digestibilities of dry matter as well as protein were increased, respectively (P=0.05). In the results of blood profiles, decrease of blood urea nitrogen (P=0.05) and increase of IGF-1 (P=0.03) were observed as dietary Tenebrio molitor larva was increased in diet during phase II. In immune responses, there were no significant differences in IgA and IgG concentration by addition ofTenebrio molitor larva. Consequently, supplementation of Tenebrio molitor larva up to 6% in weaning pig diet could improve growth performance and nutrient digestibility without any detrimental effect on immune responses.