# Bioactive Compounds in Breast Meat of Broiler Chickens Fed with Black Soldier Fly Wholesmeal
## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Chemical Composition of Breast Meat  
The centesimal composition of chicken breast from broilers fed the control diet and diets supplemented with 5 and 10% BLSF is presented in Table 3. Overall, the centesimal composition did not show any significant difference; in fact, the protein and fat content of the BLSF meal did not influence the chicken breast (\(p\) > 0.05). Our results are in line with those of [PERSON] et al. [31], who found differences only in chickens fed 5% wholemeal flour. Furthermore, no differences were detected in pH values and shear force (\(p>0.05\)). The effect of BCSF meal supplementation did not significantly affect the lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*) of chicken breast (\(p>0.05\)). These values contrast with those found by [PERSON] et al. [31] in the breast and thigh muscles of chickens fed whole or defatted BCSF meal. In particular, the authors observed a significant increase in the brightness index (L*) in the meat of chickens fed whole BSF meal. The authors associated these results with a low pH and low water holding capacity. In Table 4, the fatty acid profiles of chicken breast are reported separately for groups C, HI5, and HI10. Overall, diet significantly influenced the percentage content of individual fatty acids (\(p<0.05\)). The content of saturated fatty acids, such as C120, C14:0, and C17:0, in the breast meat of the HI5 and HI10 groups demonstrated that the supplementation of BCSF flour significantly increased the content of the studied fatty acids (\(p<0.05\)), as shown in Table 4. Conversely, the change was not statistically significant for C16:0 and C18:0 content (\(p>0.05\)). Among the polyunsaturated fatty acids, C18:1 cis 9, C18:2 cis n6, and C18:3 n3 decreased in proportion to increasing supplementation (HI10 > HI5; \(p<0.05\)). Supplementation with BCSF flour significantly increased the total SFA content in breast meat (\(p<0.05\)) and significantly decreased the total PUFA and MUFA content (\(p<0.05\)). The addition of different fat sources to the diet of broiler chickens influences their fatty acid composition [32]. From our results, it is evident that BCSF flour has a high content of saturated fatty acids; in particular, the SFA class represents about 71% of the total FAME, of which about 38% is represented by C12:0 (Table 2). The latter content influences the percentage of SFA in the meat, which increases as a function of the level of dietary inclusion of the black soldier fly. Our results are supported by [PERSON] et al. [33], who highlighted an increase in ileal fat digestibility following the administration of diets enriched with a fat source that increases ileal fat digestibility. Furthermore, the flour administered to the two treated groups, HI5 and HI10, was rich in lauric acid, as reported in Table 2 and in line with what was found by [PERSON] et al. [31] and [PERSON] et al. [34]. Many authors have associated the high C12:0 content with low pH values in meat; however, the results are contrasting [31; 35]. In addition, a significant increase in SFA is associated with an increase in the atherogenic index (AI) and thrombogenic index (TI), indicators of lipid quality, which indicate the potential effects of lipids on the development of cardiovascular diseases. Some studies have investigated the potential effects of lauric acid on broiler diets, showing an improvement in feed conversion efficiency and an antimicrobial effect of medium-chain fatty acids in the intestine [35]. Furthermore, C12:0 significantly improves the microbiological safety of chicken breast meat by reducing pathogens such as _Campylobacter_[35] and _Salmonella_[36] and enriches the nutritional quality of meat by improving its fatty acid profile, particularly omega-3 fatty acids [37].