Minor lipophilic compounds in edible insects

Abstract

Contemporary society is faced with the question how to ensure suffiecient nutrition (quantity and quality) for rapidly growing population. One solution can be consumption of edible insect, which can have very good nutritional value (dietary energy, protein, fatty acids, fibers, dietary minerals and vitamins composition). Some edible insects species, which contains a relatively large amount of fat, can have a potential to be a "good" (interesting, new) source of minor lipophilic compounds such as sterols (cholesterol and phytosterols) and tocopherols in our diet. For this reason, the objective of this work was to characterize the sterols and tocopherols composition of fat from larvae of edible insect Zophobas morio L. and Tenebrio mollitor L. Cholesterol and three phytosterols (campesterol, stigmasterol and β-sitosterol) were reliably identified and quantified after hot saponification and derivatization by GC-MS. Other steroid compounds, including 5,6-transcholecalciferol were identified only according to the NIST library. Cholesterol was the predominant sterol in all analysed samples. Both types of larvae also contained high amount of phytosterols. Different region of origin had a no significant impact on sterols composition, while the effect of beetle genus was crucial. Tocopherols were analysed by reverse phase HPLC coupled with amperometric detection. Tocopherols content in mealworm larvae was lower than content in edible oils, but important from the nutritional point of view. Change of tocopherols composition was not observed during the storage under different conditions. Larvae of edible insect can be a potential good dietary source of cholesterol, but also vitamin D3 isomers, phytosterols and tocopherols.

Fat from Tenebrionidae Bugs - Sterols Content, Fatty Acid Profiles, and Cardiovascular Risk Indexes

“…While comparing the species, a statistically signifi cant (p <0.01) difference was detected for stigmasterol and β-sitosterol. Compared with the samples from Sumatra, which were analysed by Sabolová et al [2016], the stigmasterol content was found to be up to 4 times higher. On the contrary, Sabolová et al [2016] detected no stigmasterol in the edible insects from the Czech Republic.…”

“…The content of sterols in the mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) and superworm (Zophobas morio) bred on farms in the Czech Republic, which are fed ad libitum with conventional feed, is not yet suffi ciently known from available literature [Sabolová et al, 2016] and so far this issue has not been thoroughly explored. The amount of cholesterol and phytosterols can be affected by long-term nutritional stress (the insects do not have access to feed).…”

Nutritional value of insects and ways to manipulate their composition

“…Total sterol content and the variation seems a function of species, diet, life stage and season (Connor et al, 2006;Koštál et al, 2013;Liland et al, 2017). While insects contain a variety of sterols often β-sitosterol, cholesterol, or 7-dehydrocholesterol are the most abundant (Cerda et al, 2001;Cheseto et al 2015;Connor et al, 2006;Jing and Behmer, 2020;Koštál et al, 2013;Liland et al, 2017;Mlček et al, 2019;Sabolová et al, 2016;Svoboda et al, 1995). High dietary levels of sterols, such as cholesterol, can increase the risk of atherosclerosis in humans and some species of monkeys (Hopkins, 1992;Rudel et al, 1998).…”

Possibilities of the Development of Edible Insect-Based Foods in Europe

“…Fat extraction is often a by-product of protein extraction, which results in the oil obtained from locusts being a good alternative source of lipids and food. The authors of another study emphasize that the omega-3 acid content in locust oil is an attractive characteristic for certain consumers, thus increasing the acceptance of an insect-based product [ 59 ].…”