The carcass quality, meat quality and sensory characteristics of broilers raised on diets containing either Musca domestica larvae meal, fish meal or soya bean meal as the main protein source

The effects of Musca domestica (common house fly) larvae meal (magmeal) on the meat quality of broiler chickens were investigated in a trial consisting of three isonitrogenous and isoenergetic treatment diets containing either 10% fish meal, 10% M. domestica larvae meal or a control diet with soya bean meal as the protein source. Chicks that received either the 10% M. domestica larvae meal or 10% fish meal produced significantly heavier carcasses and had a higher breast-meat yield than did the control chicks. Sensory attributes evaluated by a trained sensory panel included chicken aroma, metallic aroma, initial juiciness, chicken flavour, sustained juiciness, metallic aftertaste, toughness and mealiness. The samples were judged to have a prominent chicken aroma but a less prominent chicken flavour. Although the samples had a moderate initial juiciness, they did not have a sustained juiciness except for the larvae-fed samples, which had higher sustained juiciness values; all samples were perceived as tender; fish meal-fed samples were judged more mealy than larvae-fed samples, with the control being intermediary; larvae-fed samples had higher metallic aroma and aftertaste values, although these values were low and unlikely to be detected by consumers. Comparison of meat-quality characteristics showed no treatment differences for breast-and thigh-muscle colour, pH, water holding capacity or cooking losses. Significant differences were observed for drip loss, with the lowest drip loss reported for the larvae meal-fed samples, followed by the control diet and the highest for fish meal-fed samples. It is concluded that the inclusion of larvae meal into the diets of broilers will have positive rather than any detrimental effects on most carcass, meat and sensory characteristics.