Antioxidant potential of weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina (adult & brood) and termite Odontotermes sp the two common species of insects used as food by tribes of Arunachal Pradesh and elsewhere in India. Our findings highlight the antioxidant potential of these two insects. DPPH• scavenging activity IC50 (µg/mL) ranged from 59.56 (weaver ant adult) to 66.30 (termite). Termite species scored higher ABTS•+ scavenging activity (IC50: µg/mL), Ferric reducing power (TPEE µg/g) and phenolics (mg GAE/g) (18.70, 36.60 and 626.92) than weaver ant adult (52.57, 211.21 and 369.69) and weaver ant brood (33.34, 114.32 and 486.04). On the other hand, weaver ant adult scored higher flavonoids (mg RTE/g) (663.43) than its brood (387.19) and termite species (58.04). Weaver ant brood contained substantial amounts of phenolics and flavonoids, comparatively higher than phenolics of weaver ant adult and flavonoids of termite. These two insects may serve as an ideal dietary food supplement for handling oxidative stress and as a replacement for some conventional food products. However, further study is needed to find out the bioactive compound at the individual species level.
Insect and their products have been used as an integral part of local therapies around the globe since decades. Several studies on insects have found it to be highly nutritious and rich in several bioactive compounds possibly attributing to its anti-oxidative, anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anti-diabetic and immune regulating properties. Mimela sp. is a small shiny green beetle highly preferred as food by the people of Arunachal Pradesh and is known to be therapeutically used in other regions. The Immunomodulatory effect of the aqueous extract of Mimela sp. was investigated in the present study on albino mice. The female mice were randomly divided into normal control, model control, low dose (500mg/kg), medium dose (1000mg/kg) and high dose (2000mg/kg) group. The mice in the dosage groups were fed with extract via oral gavage once a day for 14 days. The mice body weight, spleen and thymus indexes, RBC, WBC and HGB were measured. The oxidative stress parameter like lipid peroxidation, glutathione level and catalase activity were evaluated. Tissue morphology of spleen and thymus was observed. Delayed type hypersensitivity response, hemagglutination titer cytokines like IL-6 and TNF-α levels were measured. The results show significant increase in immune organ weight, leukocyte count, mice footpad volume, antibody formation and cytokine level. Enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant levels were also increased. Further histomorphological observation showed improvement in numbers of immune cells mainly lymphocytes. Thus, suggesting that the aqueous extract of Mimela sp. have antioxidant and immunodulatory potentials.
Antioxidant potential of weaver ant Oecophylla smaragdina (adult & brood) and termite odontotermes sp, the two common species of insects used as food by tribes of Arunachal Pradesh and elsewhere in India. Our findings highlight the antioxidant potential of these two insects. DPPH scavenging activity IC50 (µg/ml) ranged from 59.559 (ant adult) to 66.30 (termite). Termite species scored higher ABTS scavenging activity (IC50: µg/ml), Ferric reducing power (TPEE µg/g) and phenols (mg GAE/g) (18.70, 36.60 and 626.92) than weaver ant adult (52.57, 211.21 and 369.69) and ant brood (33.34, 114.32, 486.04). On the other hand, ant adult scored higher flavonoid (mg RTE/g) (663.4) than its brood (387.2) and termite species (58.0). Ant brood contained substantial amounts of phenols and flavonoid, comparatively higher than phenols of ant adult and flavonoid of termite. These two insects may serve as an ideal dietary food supplement for handling oxidative stress and as replacement for some conventional food products. However, further study is needed to find out the bio-active compound at individual species level.
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