Organic poultry sector needs high-quality proteins sources to meet specific requirements. The EU’s organic regulation forbids synthetic amino acids; therefore, soybean, with its balanced essential amino acid content, has become the most used protein source, though much of it is imported from non-EU countries, with sustainability and crop competition issues; therefore, it should be substituted with a high-protein-value alternative such as insect meal. In this study, 900 Aviagen Savanna broilers were fed with three different organic diets: soybean only (S100), 50% black soldier fly larvae meal (BSL) and 50% soybean (BSL50), and 100% BSL only (BSL100). Broiler performance, welfare, and fatty acids (FA) were analyzed. BSL50 and BSL100 negatively affected growth, while only BSL100 worsened all of the market-related performances. Meat showed a significant increase in saturated FA (SFA) (p < 0.000) and a corresponding decrease in polyunsaturated FA (PUFA), in BSL50 and BSL100, but α-linolenic acid was not affected by BSL50 treatment (p < 0.000). The SFA increase could represent a negative aspect for human health (e.g., cardiovascular diseases), but, as reported by other authors, medium chain SFA, (i.e., lauric acid), may show beneficial effects as well (i.e., antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties).

: Organic poultry need high-quality proteins in their diet. The EU’s organic regulation forbids synthetic amino acids; therefore, soybean, with its balanced essential amino acid content, has become the most used protein source, though much of it is imported from non-EU countries. Soybean, however, has some important problems related to sustainability and crop competition; therefore, it must be substituted with a high-protein-value alternative such as insect meal. In this study, 900 Aviagen Savanna broilers were reared using three different organic diets. The diets used the following as protein feed material: soybean only (S100), 50% black soldier fly larvae meal (BSL) and 50% soybean (BSL50), and 100% BSL only (BSL100). Broiler performance, welfare, and fatty acids (FA) in the thigh and breast were analyzed. BSL50 and BSL100 negatively affected growth performance, while BSL100 worsened all of the market-related measures of performance. Meat quality was worse in BSL50 and BSL100, with a significant increase in saturated FA (SFA) and a corresponding decrease in polyunsaturated FA (PUFA). Among SFA, lauric acid (C12:0) more notably increased. The increase in SFA represents a negative aspect of BSL meal inclusion, namely the production of lauric acid; however, this trend could have a beneficial effect, which will be more deeply explored with regard to its impact on animal and human health.

Organic poultry production requires genotypes suited to outdoor rearing, yet associations between previously characterised locomotor aptitude and meat amino acid composition remain poorly understood. This study examined breast and thigh muscles from 60 organically reared chickens representing six genetic lines (three classified as active and three as sedentary; ten carcasses per line), slaughtered at 81 days. Proximate composition and total and free amino acids were determined. Breast muscle contained more crude protein and total essential amino acids (EAAs) than thigh muscle. Genotypes classified as active had higher total EAA concentrations in breast (7.80 vs. 7.20 g/100 g meat), but not in thigh. After false discovery rate correction, the overall locomotor-group difference in crude protein was not significant. Free amino acid differences were concentrated in thigh: Bonferroni-adjusted comparisons showed lower total free amino acids, free EAAs, and individual free valine, isoleucine, and leucine in active-classified lines, whereas breast concentrations were comparable. The group × muscle interaction was significant for free EAAs (Q = 0.013), but not for total free amino acids. These muscle-specific patterns demonstrate the complementary value of total and free amino acid measurements for characterising poultry meat composition, without establishing an independent effect of locomotion or in vivo metabolic mechanisms.