Growth Performance and Instrumental Sensory Responses of Offshore-Farmed Gilthead Seabream (Sparus aurata) Fed Defatted Hermetia illucens Meal

This study evaluated the effects of partial replacement of fishmeal with 11% defatted Hermetia illucens meal (corresponding to approximately 35% replacement of the fishmeal-derived animal protein fraction) on growth performance, fillet proximate composition, and instrumental sensory responses of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) reared under commercial offshore farming conditions. A total of 60,000 fish were distributed into four sea cages and fed either a control diet (FM) or an insect-based diet (HIM) for 181 days. No significant differences were observed between dietary treatments in final body weight, weight gain, specific growth rate, feed conversion ratio, protein efficiency ratio, or somatic indices, indicating that insect meal inclusion did not impair productive performance under farm-scale conditions. Fillet proximate composition was largely preserved. Fillet sensory characteristics were assessed using an integrated artificial sensing platform including an electronic eye (E-eye), electronic nose (E-nose), and electronic tongue (E-tongue) coupled with multivariate analysis. E-eye and E-nose analyses showed no clear discrimination between dietary groups, indicating that dietary insect meal inclusion had limited effects on fillet visual appearance and volatile compound profiles. In contrast, E-tongue analysis revealed a clear separation between treatments, suggesting selective modulation of taste-related attributes associated with dietary inclusion of insect meal. Overall, the results demonstrate that defatted H. illucens meal can be incorporated into practical seabream diets under commercial farming conditions without compromising productive performance or major fillet quality traits. Furthermore, this study provides farm-scale evidence that artificial sensing technologies can effectively detect subtle diet-related changes in sensory characteristics, particularly those associated with taste perception.