The antioxidant activity of silkworm powder treated by proteolytic enzyme was investigated. Total protein content of silkworm power was assayed using BCA, Bradford assays and SDSpolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) with alkaline protease treatment conditions including temperature and pH. The optimum condition of alkaline protease treatment for silkworm powder was found to be 60 o C and pH 7. The alkaline protease treatment resulted in increased contents of free amino acids, total polyphenol and total flavonoid compared to control group. The silkworm hydrolysates showed excellent antioxidant activities in various in vitro models such as 2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, 2,2 -azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6)-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging activity. These results provide useful information for using silkworm powder as an ingredient in functional foods and for exploiting alkaline protease treatment to improve the extractability and bioactivity of a raw material. There are five instars during the silkworm larval phase.After freezing desiccation, and porphyrization, silkworm larvae on the third day of the fifth instar can be processed to be silkworm larvae powder. It can be easily digested and absorbed by human bodies. The general composition of silkworm larvae contains 10.6% water, 54.8% crude protein, 9.4% crude fat and 7.2% crude fiber . The silkworm larvae and silkworm products are also rich in useful components (Ryu et al., 2012;Chon et al., 2013;. These abundant nutrient elements can promote the physiological functions in human and animal health.Many researchers reported that the silkworm larvae powder have a sub-medicine to blood LDL-cholesterol lowering
Measurement of protein concentrationThe silkworm powder extracts have been determined by two colorimetric methods, namely the Bradford and bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assays. Bradford assay measures proteins by their binding