Comparison of the nutritional value of mysore thorn borer (Anoplophora chinensis) and mealworm larva (Tenebrio molitor): Amino acid, fatty acid, and element profiles
Introduction
The world population is estimated to reach up to 9.1 billion by 2050 (FAO, 2009), which will create problems around food security. Enough food, particularly as livestock, will be difficult to produce using already overexploited agricultural land (Hall, Jones, O’Haire, & Liceaga, 2017). Thus, it is necessary to explore alternative food sources that are sustainable and efficient (Van Huis, 2013). Farming insects could have beneficial effects in respect of the environment and high-quality protein for human consumption. Farming insects emits fewer greenhouse gases and less ammonia, and insects have higher feed conversion ratios, low risk of diseases and zoonosis, and consume much less water compared to conventional livestock (Van Huis et al., 2013). Insects are already consumed as traditional food in many countries, including countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, and Latin America (Van Huis, 2013). More than 2000 insect species are considered edible (Fogang Mba et al., 2017). However, in most western cultures of North America and Europe, eating insect is rare, although their nutritional value is comparable with meat (Yi et al., 2013). Recently, insects have gained more attention as a sustainable source of protein, fats, and energy (Bubler, Rumpold, Jander, Rawel, & Schlüter, 2016). Thus, research about edible insects has been published increasingly over the past few years (Nowak et al., 2016, Yi et al., 2013).
Insects represent more than 90% of animal species (Wu et al., 2020). Despite this huge variety, little is known about their nutritional compositions (Nowak et al., 2016). Insects have relatively good protein (13–77% DW) and fat (9–67% DW) contents, and related amino acid (around 16% essential amino acids) and fatty acid profiles, as well as micronutrients including minerals and vitamins (Fogang Mba et al., 2017, Nowak et al., 2016, Van Huis et al., 2013). From nutritional point-of-view, insects are comparable to conventional livestock (Yi et al., 2013) with each containing around 94–1272 kcal/100 g. Insects also contain bioactive substances, such as alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, and phenols (Ratcliffe, Mello, Garcia, Butt, & Azambuja, 2011). Further, reports have demonstrated that proteins and fats from insects affected positively the risks of cardiovascular and digestive diseases (Womeni et al., 2009).
The citrus long-horned beetle (Anoplophora chinensis) is a wood-boring cerambycid beetle of the order Coleoptera, which is originally from Eastern Asia. Larvae of this insect are known as Mysore thorn borer (MTB). In China, MTB is considered edible and has become increasingly popular. It has digestive benefits and is also associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases and iron deficiency (Zhang, 2013). Recently, this larva has attracted attention as a healthy ingredient and this attention has escalated prices. Currently, MTB is being cultivated in China among other species, such as mealworm larvae (MWL) (Tenebrio molitor), which is one of the most widely reared insects for human consumption globally (Nowak et al., 2016, Van Huis et al., 2013). Zhang (2013) demonstrated that MTB was not toxic to mice but, nevertheless, fundamental knowledge regarding the nutritional composition of MTB is limited.
Considering the increasing importance of edible insects as potential sources of nutritional and functional compounds, it is imperative that the composition of MTB be examined. Altogether, detailed information about MTB nutritional composition is needed to evaluate their potential for development of insect-derived products by the food and nutraceutical industries. Therefore, nutritional compositions (fatty acid, amino acid, and element profiles) of MTB and MWL were investigated.
Section snippets
Larva preparation
Freeze-dried MTB (previously degutted) and MWL were purchased from Shangrao Yunshi Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. (Shangrao, China) and Shandong Langshi Insect Industry Co., Ltd. (Jinan, China), respectively and stored at −20 °C. A batch of 3 kg of each species was purchased. The taxonomic identification of these species was made by Dr. Yusheng Liu from college of Plant Protection at Shandong Agricultural University. Larvae were ground finely using a pestle and mortar prior to analyses.
Proximate composition
Proximate composition
Proximate composition of MTB and MWL are presented in Table 1. The main components of MTB were fat (55.34 ± 1.12%) and protein (31.23 ± 0.78%) followed by carbohydrates (9.60 ± 0.45%) and ash (2.89 ± 0.15%).
The fat contents of edible insects varies among species; currently, termites (46.1% fresh weight) and palm weevil larvae (41.73% fresh weight) have been found to contain the most (Van Huis, 2013). The fat contents of MTB was lower than that of Rhynchophorus phoenicis larvae (71.62% DW) (
Conclusions
Amino acid, lipid, and mineral profiles for MTB showed the potential of this insect as a good source of micro and macronutrients as well as functional compounds. The nutritional content of MTB was comparable to conventional livestock, such as beef, pork, and chicken. Essential nutrients, including EAA, essential fatty acids, and minerals, make these insects suitable as ingredients for the food industry. We also demonstrated their potential to solve nutritional problems, such as undernutrition
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Ricardo A. Wu: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data curation, Writing - original draft. Qingzhi Ding: Supervision, Conceptualization, Writing - review & editing. Litao Yin: Investigation. Xiuwei Chi: Investigation. Nianzhen Sun: Formal analysis, Validation. Ronghai He: Funding acquisition, Resources. Lin Luo: Supervision, Writing - review & editing. Haile Ma: Funding acquisition, Resources. Zhikun Li: Visualization, Investigation.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFD0401105), Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), and Student's Platform for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program of Jiangsu. Special thanks to Dr. Moses Kwaku Golly, Mokhtar Dabbour (Ph.D. candidate) (School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University), and S. Michael Sargarov (English teacher from Private Hualian University, Guangzhou, China) for
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