Food Value of Mealworm Grown on Acrocomia aculeata Pulp Flour

Abstract

Insects have played an important role as human food throughout history, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America. A good example of edible insects is the mealworm, Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus, 1758 (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae), which are eaten in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. This species is easily bred in captivity, requiring simple management. The bocaiuva (Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd) is an abundant palm tree found in the Brazilian Cerrado, providing fruits with high nutritional value. The aim of this work was to determine the chemical composition of T. molitor grown in different artificial diets with bocaiuva pulp flour. The nutritional composition, fatty acid composition, antioxidant activity, trypsin activity and anti-nutritional factors of larvae were analyzed. The results showed that mealworms grown on artificial diet with bocaiuva are a good source of protein (44.83%) and lipid (40.45%), with significant levels of unsaturated fatty acids (65.99%), antioxidant activity (4.5 μM Trolox/g of oil extracted from larvae) and absence of anti-nutritional factors. This study indicates a new source of biomass for growing mealworms and shows that it is possible to breed mealworms in artificial diet with bocaiuva flour without compromising the nutritional quality of the larvae.

Extraction of macauba kernel oil using supercritical carbon dioxide and compressed propane

“…Macauba kernel oil contains high concentrations of saturated fatty acids, predominantly lauric acid (40.97–67.8 %), as seen in Figure a. Other studies have reported levels of 31.6–50 % of this fatty acid in macauba kernel oil . The oils also showed high levels of oleic, myristic, and caprylic acids.…”

“…The oil content of macauba kernels, reported by other authors using Soxhlet extraction with petroleum ether as the solvent, ranges from 35–52.9 % . Alves et al obtained 44.96 % of oil in the macauba kernel using Bligh Dyer extraction.…”

“…In order to obtain the oil from Acrocomia aculeata kernels, previous reports have used solvent extraction in a Soxhlet apparatus, pressing, and the Bligh and Dyer method . However, a promising method that has not yet been explored for obtaining this oil is extraction using pressurized fluids at sub‐ or supercritical conditions.…”

Addition of Olive Pomace to Feeding Substrate Affects Growth Performance and Nutritional Value of Mealworm (Tenebrio Molitor L.) Larvae

“…A variety of feeding substrates have been studied for a decade: mixtures of dried potatoes and egg whites [7]; mixtures of spent and distillers' grains, potato peelings, cookie and bread remains, beer yeast, and maize [9]; wheat and soybean flours added to bocaiuva (Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd) pulp flour [14]; mixtures of by-products from food manufacturing (beet molasses, potato peelings, spent grains, bread and cookies remains) [8]; watermelon rinds, eggshells, banana peels, and white bread [15]; mixtures of spent and distillers' grains with wheat bran [12]; linseed added to wheat, oat, and corn flours [11]; mixtures of wheat bread and flours (wheat, oat, corn, chickpea) [10]; and by-products from maize production [16]. Even polystyrene foam [17] and fermented cattle dung mixed with conventional feed (wheat bran, corn flour, bean pulp) [18] have been investigated, but the bioconversion of olive pomace is still to be explored.…”

An optimized 4‐day diet meal plan for ‘Lunar Palace 1’

“…Whole grains are nutritionally superior to refined grains in that they contain higher amounts of fiber, minerals and vitamins, which have important biological activities and functions . Yellow mealworms were considered as a good animal protein source in BLSS, since they contain some of the highest amounts of protein (477.6–531.3 g kg −1 ) and lipid (27.25–38.26 g kg −1 ), with energy contributions varying from 3790 to 5730 kcal kg −1 . Carrot leaves were regarded as a new type of food ingredient based on their excellent nutritional characteristics, especially their omega‐3 fatty acid and total phenolic contents.…”