Comparative Characterization of Protein Hydrolysates from Three Edible Insects: Mealworm Larvae, Adult Crickets, and Silkworm Pupae

Abstract

A comparative characterization of proteins from three edible insects—Tenebrio molitor (mealworm) larvae, Gryllus bimaculatus (cricket), and Bombyx mori (silkworm) pupae—was performed in this study. Proteins were extracted from edible insects and their hydrolysates were prepared through enzymatic hydrolysis with commercial enzymes (Flavourzyme: 12%; Alcalase: 3%). Solubility was significantly higher following enzymatic hydrolysis, while foamability was lower compared to those of the protein control. Angiotensin-converting enzyme was significantly inhibited after enzymatic hydrolysis, especially following Alcalase treatment, with IC50 values of 0.047, 0.066, and 0.065 mg/mL for G. bimaculatus, T. molitor larvae, and B. mori pupae, respectively. Moreover, the Alcalase-treated group of B. mori pupae and the T. molitor larvae group treated with a mixture of enzymes showed the effective inhibition of α-glucosidase activity. The anti-inflammatory activity of the insect hydrolysates was assessed via nitric oxide production from macrophages, and B. mori pupae samples exhibited significant activity regardless of the method of hydrolysis. These results indicate the functional properties of protein and hydrolysates from three species of edible insects, which may be useful in their future exploitation.

Dietary Modulation of Oxidative Stress From Edible Insects: A Mini-Review

“…In agreement with the paper of Yoon and coworkers (26), protein hydrolysates of T. molitor and G. bimaculatus did not exert any effect on NO release. A total of eight intervention studies on animal models characterized by hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, obesity, and alcoholic liver damage have been published.…”

“…Differently from other studies, Dutta et al (18) showed that aqueous extract of Vespa affinis was able to increase the activity of the endogenous antioxidant enzymes catalase (CAT) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) (18). Table 2 summarizes the results obtained on the antioxidant activity of different insects and invertebrates; eight were tested in cellular models (12,13,18,20,(26)(27)(28)(29) and as many in animal models (20,27,(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35). For what concerns cellular models, the effects of the water-soluble extract of dung beetles of Onitis sp., mole crickets of Gryllotalpa sp., grasshopper of Caelifera sp.…”

Application of Aqueous Saline Process to Extract Silkworm Pupae Oil (Bombyx mori): Process Optimization and Composition Analysis

“…Next, the lipids in grounded or homogenized tissues are then extracted with an aqueous solution using tissue hydrolysis with enzymes, alkaline, or acids to improve the extraction efficiency [15][16][17][18][19]. However, using a hydrolysis reaction limits the potential reuse of protein components and regularly results in a bitter taste [20,21]. Moreover, issues have been reported with attempts to scale up the enzymatic hydrolysis method [22].…”

Anti-Hyperglycemic Effects of Green Crab Hydrolysates Derived by Commercially Available Enzymes

“…The IC 50 values of the control and the hydrolysates were strongly correlated with the <3 kD fractions (r = 0.987, p < 0.05), which indicates that the peptides in the <3 kD fraction are key contributors to the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. The α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of PR-treated sample (IC 50 1.38 ± 0.19 mg/mL) was remarkably higher than not only other treatments and the control but also the hydrolysates of sardine muscle (IC 50 48.7 mg/mL), whey protein isolate (IC 50 4.5 mg/mL), and edible insects (IC 50 > 2.0 mg/mL) including mealworm larvae, crickets, and silkworm pupae [38,44,45]. In many studies, AL, FL, and digestive enzymes including pepsin and trypsin are commonly used to obtain bioactive peptides [38,39,45,46].…”