Farinha de Tenebrio molitor, Fabricius, 1798 na dieta de coelhos da raça Lionhead

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to evaluate if the inclusion of insect flour in the diet of pet rabbits increases the apparent digestibility of dietary nutrients and performance in the growth phase. The experimental period lasted 37 days: 32 for adaptation of animals and 5 for data collection. Two balanced diets were formulated, one without Tenebrio molitor inclusion and the other with 20% T. molitor inclusion. To obtain the chemical composition values for food samples supplied, the leftovers and feces were collected and analyzed. The results were analyzed by the SISVAR statistical program. The adopted statistical design was completely randomized with two treatments and ten repetitions. Fisher's test was applied (P <0.05). There was no difference (P >0.05) between treatments for the variables of dry matter intake, thus indicating a good acceptability of the diet with inclusion of T. molitor flour. Protein digestibility was not altered (P >0.05) by the addition of T. molitor in the diet. Thus, indicating that animals can digest the nitrogen fraction of diets with the same efficiency. Difference (P <0.05) was verified for ether extract values, being higher for the diet containing T. molitor. It was also observed that in both diets there were no cases of digestive disorders, such as diarrhea, indicating that the high levels of ether extract did not interfere in the development of the animals. The inclusion of 20% of insect flour in the diet does not alter the apparent digestibility of rabbits diet in the growing phase.