62 nd International Congress of Meat Science and Technology, 14-19 th August 2016, Bangkok, Thailand INSECT VS LINSEED OIL IN DIETS OF GROWING-FATTENING RABBITS: EFFECT ON FATTY ACID COMPOSITION AND OXIDATIVE STABILITY IN HIND LEG MEAT Cátia Martins 1 , Marco Cullere 2 , Diogo Ribeiro 1 , Susana P. Alves 3 , Rui J. B. Bessa 3 , João Pedro Bengala Freire 1 , Luísa Falcão-e-Cunha 1 , Antonella Dalle Zotte 2* 1 DCEB, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal; 2 Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health - MAPS, University of Padova, Legnaro (PD), Italy; 3 CIISA, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida da Universidade Técnica,1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal *antonella.dallezotte@unipd.it Abstract – This was the first experiment testing insect oil from Hermetia illucens in the diet for growing rabbits. The trial was designed to assess the effect of two different oil sources, insect oil or linseed oil, at two inclusion levels in the diet of growing rabbits on fatty acid (FA) profile and oxidative stability in hind leg meat. Four isoprotein and isofibrous diets were formulated with two oil sources (oil from Hermetia illucens or linseed oil) at two inclusion levels (3 or 6%). Rabbits (12×4) were individually caged and experimental diets were fed ad libitum from weaning to 70 days of age, then slaughtered. The hind legs were excised 24 h post mortem from carcass and deboned. The fatty acid profile of hind leg meat was evaluated, and the meat oxidative stability was assessed after 5 days of chilling and 6 weeks of freezing using the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) method. The meat of rabbits fed with insect oil diet was characterized by higher saturated fatty acids and lower unsaturated fatty acids content compared to that of rabbits fed with linseed oil diet. All the FA- based nutritional indexes of meat were more favorable for linseed diet (P<0.001). The oxidative stability of meat was not affected (P>0.05) by lipid source or level after 5 days of chilling, but after 6 weeks of frozen storage, meat from animals fed insect oil presented lower (P<0.001) TBA values than meat from animals fed insect oil. This study showed that if the FA profile of Hemetia illucens oil can be improved, it would be a promising feed ingredient for growing rabbits. Consequently, further research on this topic is required. Key Words – Insect oil, Rabbit meat, Fatty acids I. INTRODUCTION Currently, there has been increasing interest in the use of insects as food in general, and particularly as feed ingredient for monogastric animals. This because there is the urgent need for alternative and sustainable feed ingredients to partly replace the conventional feedstuffs such as soybean meal and soybean oil [1]. The protein of insects has a high biological value [2], and thus can be a potential replacement of soybean meal. Lipids, are also a major component of insects and are produced during protein isolation technologies, thus being another feed ingredient for potential application in animal farming. Lipid content and composition of insects vary according to their species and life stage, although the FA profile presents certain uniformity, with high amounts of unsaturated FA found relative to saturated fatty acid (SFA) [3]. Among insects, Hermetia illucens is a Diptera of the Stratiomydae family which was indicated as one of the most promising insects for industrial feed production in the Western world [4]. The interest of people in reducing the amount of fat in food products has been followed by the increased concern with fat quality of food. In fact, some specific fatty acids (FA) have been associated with several positive health effects, while others or their imbalance could have negative effects [5]. Fatty acid composition of meat can be manipulated through changes in animal diet, particularly in monogastric. In rabbits, different dietary fat sources had been used to modify the FA composition of meat [6;7]. However, the FA profile of the intramuscular fat does not entirely reflect the FA composition of the diet [8].