Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Aug;39(4):643-654.
doi: 10.5851/kosfa.2019.e56. Epub 2019 Aug 31.

Technical Functional Properties of Water- and Salt-soluble Proteins Extracted from Edible Insects

Tae-Kyung Kim  1 , Hae In Yong  1 , Chang Hee Jeong  2 , Sung Gu Han  2 , Young-Boong Kim  1 , Hyun-Dong Paik  2 , Yun-Sang Choi  1
Affiliations

Technical Functional Properties of Water- and Salt-soluble Proteins Extracted from Edible Insects

Tae-Kyung Kim et al. Food Sci Anim Resour. 2019 Aug.

Abstract

The amino acid composition, protein quality, and protein functionality of protein solution extracted from three edible insect species were investigated. We used 0.02% ascorbic acid and 0.58 M saline solution to extract water-soluble and salt-soluble proteins from the three insect species. Extracted protein solutions of Tenebrio molitor (TM), Allomyrina dichotoma (AD), and Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis (PB) were divided into six groups, according to species and solubility: WTM, WAD, WPB (water-soluble), and STM, SAD, and SPB (salt-soluble). Defatted TM had the highest protein content, but its protein solubility was the lowest, for both water and saline solutions. Amino acid composition differed by edible insect species and buffer type; SPB had the highest protein quality, followed by WPB. PB had a higher pH than the other species. Color values also differed among species. SPB had abundant high molecular weight proteins, compared with other treatments; and also had the highest foaming capacity, foam stability, and emulsifying capacity. In conclusion, PB is a good source of functional protein compared with the other studied species. Additionally, protein extraction using saline solution is promising as a useful method for improving edible insect protein functionality.

Keywords: edible insects; protein functionality; protein quality; salt-soluble; water-soluble.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest The authors declare no potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.. Sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of extracted protein from edible insect.
1) All edible insect was freeze-dried defatted larvae powder (TM, Tenebrio molitor; AD, Allomyrina dichotoma; PB, Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis) and W and S meant water soluble and salt soluble.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.. Foaming capacity (A) and foam stability (B) of extracted protein solution from edible insect.
a–c Means within a treatments with different letters are significantly different (p<0.05). 1) All edible insect was freeze-dried defatted larvae powder (TM, Tenebrio molitor; AD, Allomyrina dichotoma; PB, Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis) and W and S meant water soluble and salt soluble.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.. Emulsifying capacity (A) and emulsion stability (B) of extracted protein solution from edible insect.
a–d Means within a treatments with different letters are significantly different (p<0.05). 1) All edible insect was freeze-dried defatted larvae powder (TM, Tenebrio molitor; AD, Allomyrina dichotoma; PB, Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis) and W and S meant water soluble and salt soluble.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Andersen SO, Rafn K, Krogh TN, Hojrup P, Roepstorff P. Comparison of larval and pupal cuticular proteins in Tenebrio molitor. Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 1995;25:177–187. doi: 10.1016/0965-1748(94)00048-M. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Andersen SO. Characteristic properties of proteins from pre-ecdysial cuticle of larvae and pupae of the mealworm Tenebrio molitor. Insect Biochem Mol Biol. 2002;32:1077–1087. doi: 10.1016/S0965-1748(02)00045-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. AOAC . Official methods of analysis of AOAC International. 17th ed. Association of Official Analytical Chemists; Gaithersburg, MD, USA: 2000.
    1. Atkinson PW, Brown WV, Gilby AR. Phenolic compounds from insect cuticle: Identification of some lipid antioxidants. Insect Biochem. 1973;3:309–315. doi: 10.1016/0020-1790(73)90062-0. - DOI
    1. Caparros Megido R, Poelaert C, Ernens M, Liotta M, Blecker C, Danthine S, Tyteca E, Haubruge E, Alabi T, Bindelle J, Francis F. Effect of household cooking techniques on the microbiological load and the nutritional quality of mealworms (Tenebrio molitor L. 1758) Food Res Int. 2018;106:503–508. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2018.01.002. - DOI - PubMed