Quails meat quality as affected by Tenebrio molitor larva meals in feeds

Insects have been rapidly emerging as an alternative high quality, efficient and sustainable protein source to the conventional livestock feed protein. Tenebrio molitor (TM) is considered one of the most promising species in this sense. This study evaluated the effect of a partial replacement of soybean and corn meal with TM larval meal in the diet of common quails (Coturnix coturnix) on physical and chemical characteristics of raw and cooked meat. To this purpose, 96 quails, divided into four groups (24 quails per group), were fed with four different diets for a period of 42 days. A group with soybean and maize meal (C), the other three groups with a partial replacement of soybean meal at 5, 10, 20% with TM meal (T5, T10, T20, respectively). All the diets were isonitrogenous, isolipidic, and isoenergetic. At 42 days of age, quails were slaughtered, and the peeled carcasses were used for meat quality evaluations. Specifically, each carcass was divided into two symmetrical halves to analyze the left side as raw, allotting the right half to the cooking trial (baking in oven at 200 °C for 35 min). Data related to the raw and cooked samples were analyzed separately by means of one-way ANOVA using PROC GLM of SAS statistical software. Marketable and physical parameters showed that the inclusion of TM meal did not compromise the carcass traits and cooking losses of the product. The T20 raw breasts were more tender (2.16 N/g; p < .01) than breasts of T5 and T10 groups (2.48 and 2.62 N/g, respectively), but did not differ from the C one (2.36 N/g). Regarding the fatty acid profile, slight differences were found in raw and cooked meat in TM groups, with a higher content of C18:3n3 in the cooked meat of TM10 group (p < .01). The TM inclusion in feed significantly affected the oxidative status of breast raw meat. Specifically, the T20 group was scarcely subjected to lipid degradation, having 0.033 mg MDA-eq./100 g meat that was significantly lower than TBARS content of T5 and C (0.040 and 0.045 mg MDA-eq./100 g meat, respectively). In contrast, the T10 meat was the most oxidized (0.053 mg MDA-eq./100 g meat) group. No significant differences were observed for cooked meat. In conclusion, results highlighted that TM meal represents a valuable protein source in the diet of common quails when included by up to 20% in their diet, without any detrimental effect on meat quality parameters and fatty acid profile.