• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.702-707
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• 2017

Insects and their extract have been traditionally used as medicinal resources in Asia. Recently, Gryllus bimaculatus and the larva of Tenebrio molitor, Protaetia brevitarsis, and Allomyrina dichotoma were enlisted as general food ingredients by Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. As the interest in these insects is growing, the detailed investigation is needed for the standardization of suitable and safe rearing techniques. This survey was conducted via personal interviews about edible insect rearing farms in Korea. The basic feed is fermented oak sawdust for P. brevitarsis and A. dichotoma and wheat bran for T. molitor. The various feed additives are blended with each farm's own recipes. The overall growth condition, including sawdust fermentation method, feeding period, and rearing density, varies among the investigated farms. It seems that weight of last instar larva was correlated with the rearing density and duration of the larval period. The heavy metal contents were analyzed after 48 hour starvation and they were very small amount or not detected in investigated insects. We believe that the present data will contribute to develop and standardize the safe rearing techniques of edible insects in Korea.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.563-568
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• 2018

The insect industry is a promising agricultural resource and expected to grow steadily. In Korea, Gryllus bimaculatus and the larvae of Tenebrio molior, Protaetia brevitarsis, and Allomyrina dichotoma were listed as general food ingredients. As interest in these edible insects increases, rearing techniques and nutritious food sources are needed for mass production. In this study, wheat bran, dog feed, and pig feed were investigated for their effects on the larval growth of P. brevitarsis and A. dichotoma. When fermented sawdust with 30% wheat bran was used, the larval survival rate of P. brevitarsis and A. dichotoma (p=0.244341 and p=0.007966, respectively) and growth rate (p=0.001400 and p=0.000051, respectively) were significantly lower than those of the control (fermented sawdust with no supplement). Therefore, fermented sawdust with a high density of wheat bran was inappropriate for both insects. When fed fermented sawdust with 2.5 or 5% of dog and pig feed, the survival rate and growth rate of the larvae were higher than those of the control. Interestingly, the maximum larval weight with 2.5% dog feed was increased by $3.35{\pm}0.10g$ and $32.59{\pm}0.79g$ for P. brevitarsis and A. dichotoma, respectively. In addition, the larval period of both was shorter than that of the control by 40 days or more. Therefore, it is considered that animal feed can be used as a feed source for these edible insects.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.94-102
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• 2022

Defatted soybean, larvae of brown mealworm (Tenebrio molitor), and powdered pupae of silkworm (Bombyx mori) were fermented in solid and liquid forms using Aspergillus oryzae and Bacillus subtilis. The protein degradation rate (NDR) through solid fermentation was the highest in the fermented soybean control sample (54.69±6.54%), followed by silkworm pupae (34.82±5.99%) and brown mealworm larvae (30.54±3.80%). When these edible insects were fermented in liquid form, solid extraction yield was 37.73-46.88%, and protein yield was 47.47-63.02%. NDR of fermented liquid form products increased to 58.90, 52.62, and 50.13% for soybean, brown mealworm larvae, and silkworm pupae, respectively. SDS-PAGE of the liquid fermented products confirmed that microbial fermentation decomposed higher-molecular-weight proteins into small polypeptides. In vitro digestibility of liquid forms of edible insects increased by 1.26 to 1.53 times after fermentation. The protein solubility, foaming ability, and foam stability of liquid-fermented edible insects all tended to increase through fermentation.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.537-542
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• 2019

Proteins were isolated from four species of edible insects, Bombyx mori, B; Tenebrio molitor, T; Protaetia brevitarsis, P; and Gryllus bimaculatus, G, and their properties were analyzed and compared with those of whey proteins. The yield of the protein isolated from raw materials was 65.0-75.0%. Among three branched chain amino acids (BCAA), the amounts of valine in all the insects were similar to that of the whey protein. The BCAA content was 16.8 and 16.4% in G and T, respectively. The total polyphenolic content and the antioxidant activity of the insect proteins were significantly higher than those of the whey proteins. Based on the sensory test of the protein powder, the whey protein could be replaced by 25% of the isolated protein from the insects, but the taste and flavor needs to be improved. Although the BCAA content of insect proteins was lower than that of the whey protein (by 73-76%), their application could be useful because of high polyphenolic content and the anti-oxidative activity.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.11-16
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• 2017

In this study, two kinds of mealworm seasoning pastes (naturally fermented or inoculation of Bacillus subtilis) were prepared by applying fermentation method of chungkukjang. The samples were labeled into soybean control (SC; no fermentation), mealworm control (MC; no fermentation), mealworm natural fermentation (MR) and mealworm inoculated fermentation of Bacillus (MB). Water content, color, pH, titratable acidity, salinity, amino acid nitrogen, reducing sugar and preference test were examined on the pastes. Moisture contents were 46.9 with soybean control (MC) and 54.5~73.3 with mealworm pastes. The L-value was not significantly different between the samples. In the case of the a-value and the b-value, SC showed the highest value whereas mealworm pastes showed lower values than SC. pH and salinity were higher in mealworm pastes. Amino nitrogen and reducing sugar showed the highest values of MR 326,67 and 63.33 mg%, respectively. In the preference test, the appearance and flavor were the highest values with SC, but texture, taste and overall acceptability were with MR, Therefore, soybean fermentation method with Bacillus species could be applied to use protein of mealworm and possibly edible insects as well.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.297-307
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• 2018

The aim of this study was to develop a seasoning paste fermented by Aspergillus oryzae and Bacillus subtilis using three edible insects: Tenebrio molitor larvae, Gryllus bimaculatus, and Bombyx mori pupa. No significant changes in pH and titratable acidity were observed between the insect pastes and soybean control during a 5-week fermentation process. The amino nitrogen was 0.35-0.50% (w/w) in the early stage of the fermentation and increased to 0.72-0.78%. The total nitrogen was 2.36-3.62% (w/w) in the early stage and was preserved during the fermentation period. Free amino acids of the insect pastes were similar to those in soybean paste. In general, the fermented insect pastes showed a lower flavor and color than soybean paste but B. mori pupa-fermented paste did not show any significant difference in preference from soybean. Glutamate, aspartate, lysine, phenylalanine, arginine, and serine were found to affect taste preference. It was possible to ferment edible insect protein to produce a fermented seasoning paste like Korean doenjang.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1185-1190
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• 2017

Insects are gaining recognition as an alternative source of protein. As a result, more and more domestic farms have begun mass rearing of edible insects. In order to produce high quality insects, studies on the development of safe and nutritious feed sources are needed. Given the cost of rearing insects, agricultural and industrial by-products are good sources for feed. The efficient utilization of these by-products can help in reducing the cost of production and preventing environmental pollution. In the current study, Citrus unshiu peel (CP), soybean curd cake (SCC), soybean oil meal (SOM), and brewers dried grain (BDG) were investigated for their effects on larval growth and development of Protaetia brevitarsis. Interestingly, the feed with 10% SCC increased larval weight by 3.5 times. For the larval period, the group of 10% SCC was significantly shorter than the control. Furthermore, minerals such as Zn, Ca, K, Mg, Na, and P were recorded to be high in 10% SCC. A total of 17 amino acids were present in 10% SCC, of which tyrosine and arginine were predominant. The heavy metal contents were very small amounts or not detected in any of the investigated groups. These findings provided a scientific basis for the utilization of soybean curd cake as a nutritional feed source to promote larval growth and produce quality insects.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.135-141
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• 2019

In this study, the "Insect Smart Farm Air Conditioning System" is designed and proposed for the control of breeding environment of Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis larvae. The proposed "Insect Smart Farm Air Conditioning System" separates the breeding room from the air conditioning room. It is a system that creates an environment optimized for breeding and distributes it into a breeding room. When controlling the environment through air-conditioning and humidifiers in insect farms, temperature and humidity vary from part of the breeding room to part. The solution to the problem can be suggested as a solution to the difficulty of producing white-spotted flower mounds of uniform size and weight when selling edible insects. By using the "Insect Smart Farm Air Conditioning System," the temperature difference can be reduced by 6℃ and the humidity difference by 24.7% compared to the environmental control of existing insect farms. The temperature and humidity of different parts of the breeding room were improved. Provide the optimal environment of Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis larvae at all times and ensure uniform CO₂ concentration. It can be expected to increase output through annual production and increase income for insect farmers. The proposed "Insecting Smart Farm Air Conditioning System" also controls the set temperature, humidity and CO₂. Environmental control of the breeding of other edible insects and the reproduction of mushrooms that require environmental control in breeding or breeding will also be possible.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.108-114
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• 2022

Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis larva is well-known as an edible insect. The present study aimed to explore the immune-enhancing effect of 30% ethanol extract of Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis larvae (PBE) in RAW264.7 macrophage cells. PBE were not cytotoxic to RAW264.7 cells and nitric oxide production increased on PBE treatment in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, PBE significantly promoted the expression of immune-related mediators (Inos and COX-2) and cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β) and the phosphorylation of MAPKs (ERK, p38, and JNK). Taken together, the immune-enhancing effects of 30% ethanol extract of PBE in vitro were identified. These findings can be used as data for the development of edible insect-based functional foods that improve immune function.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.185-195
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• 2021

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of high pressure to investigate the technical functional properties of the protein solution extracted from an edible insect, Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis. High pressure processing was performed at 0 (control), 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 MPa at 35℃. The essential amino acid index of the control was lower (p<0.05) than that of the P. brevitarsis seulensis extract treated with 100 MPa. The SDS-PAGE patterns tended to become faint at approximately 75 kDa and thicker at approximately 37 KDa after high pressure treatment. The protein solubility and pH of the protein tended to increase as the hydrostatic pressure levels increased. The instrument color values (redness and yellowness) of the P. brevitarsis seulensis protein treated with high pressure were lower (p<0.05) than those of the control. The forming capacity of the protein solution with P. brevitarsis seulensis treated with high pressure was higher (p<0.05) than that of the control. In conclusion, we confirmed that the technical functional properties of edible insect proteins extracted under high pressure of 200 MPa are improved. Our results indicate that high pressure can improve the technical functional properties of proteins from edible insects.