The Effect of Algae or Insect Supplementation as Alternative Protein Sources on the Volatile Profile of Chicken Meat

The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in the volatile profile of meat from chickens fed with alternative protein diets (such as algae or insect) through two different trials. In Trial 1, broiler chicken at one day of age were randomly allocated to three experimental groups: a basal control diet (C) and two groups in which the soybean meal was replaced at 75% (in the starter phase) and 50% (in the grower phase) with partially defatted Hermetia illucens (HI) larvae or Arthrospira platensis (SP). In Trial 2, broiler chickens were housed and reared similar to Trial 1, with the exception that the experimental diets replaced soybean meal with either 100% partially defatted HI or 100% SP. In both trials, chickens were slaughtered at day 35. Per group, 10 chickens were submitted to volatile analysis by using solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Results in both trials showed that levels of several lipid-derived compounds were found to be lower in chickens fed an HI diet, which could be linked to a possibly lower level of polyunsaturated fatty acid content in HI-fed chicken. In addition, the dietary treatments could be discriminated based on the volatile profile, i.e., the substitution of soy with HI or SP distinctively affected the levels of flavor compounds.