Subchronic Oral Dose Toxicity of Freeze-dried Powder of Allomyrina dichotoma Larvae

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the toxicological information of freeze-dried powder from Allomyrina dichotoma (A. dichotoma) larvae as a food ingredient. The powder, suspended in distilled water, was administered once daily by oral gavage to four groups of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats at dose levels of 0 (vehicle control), 250, 850, and 2500 mg/kg/day. After 13 wks of repeated administration, the standard toxicological parameters such as mortality, clinical signs, body weight, food consumption, ophthalmologic examination, clinical pathology, organ weights and macro/microscopic examination were applied for assessment of general toxicity. In addition, serum IgE and histamine levels were determined to evaluate allergenicity. The freeze-dried powder from A. dichotoma larvae did not produce treatmentrelated changes or findings in any toxicological parameters in either sex of any dosed groups except for slight increases in serum histamine levels at 2500 mg/kg/day. The changes were considered not to be adverse since the magnitude was minimal. In conclusion, the NOAEL (No Observed Adverse Effect Level) of the freeze-dried powder from A. dichotoma larvae was determined to be 2500 mg/kg/day or more in both sexes of SD rats and it is considered a candidate to be edible material.

Evaluation of Subchronic Oral Dose Toxicity of Freeze-Dried Skimmed Powder of Zophobas atratus Larvae (frpfdZAL) in Rats

“…An evaluation of the safety of T. molitor larvae as a food ingredient revealed no adverse effect or toxicity in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats after 90 days of administration at a maximum concentration of 3000 mg/kg/day [18]. Other edible insects Allomyrina dichotoma (Coleoptera: Scrabaeidae) revealed no adverse effect for 13 weeks (NOAEL: 2500 mg/kg/day) in SD rats [19], and subacute oral toxicity with Gryllus bimaculatus (Orthoptera: Gryllidae) for 4 weeks in SD rats were performed, and no toxicity were observed (NOAEL: 3000 mg/kg/day) [20]. Recently, Z. atratus has been recognized as a temporary food ingredient through the evaluation of suitability and food safety of manufacturing methods by the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) in January 2020.…”

Allomyrina Dichotoma Larvae Regulate Food Intake and Body Weight in High Fat Diet-Induced Obese Mice Through mTOR and Mapk Signaling Pathways

“…The cytotoxicity of ADE was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay after treatment with various concentrations of ADE (0.01–5 mg/mL). As a result, up to 5 mg/mL of ADE showed no cytotoxic effect on hypothalamic neuronal GT1-7 cells [ 17 ]. To determine whether or not central administration of ADE regulates food intake and body weight in high-fat-diet-induced mice, we administrated a single dose of ADE (1 μL of 10 mg/mL ADE) into the third ventricle.…”

Subacute Oral Toxicity Evaluation of Freeze-Dried Powder of Locusta migratoria

“…Therefore, some safety evaluations conducted in this study were performed to according to international test guidelines ( OECD, 2008 ). In the aforementioned studies, no toxicity was observed with the consumption of T. molitor at a dose of <3,000 mg/kg/d ( Han et al, 2014 ); A. dichotoma at 2,500 mg/kg/day ( Noh et al, 2015 ); and G. bimaculatus at less than 1,000 mg/kg/day ( Noh et al, 2015 ). T. molitor and A. dichotoma were confirmed to be associated with subchronic oral dose toxicity for 90 days in 5-week-old SD rats ( Han et al, 2014 ; Noh et al, 2015 ), and G. bimaculatus was confirmed to be associated with subacute oral dose toxicity for 28 days with 5-week-old SD rats ( Lee et al, 2016 ).…”

“…Recently, several attempts have been made to identify various insect resources as useful biological resources and utilize them for different purposes. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), two billion people worldwide consume insects and the use of insects as food will provide economic benefits when insects are used as a substitute for animal protein ( Noh et al., 2015 ). However, it is important to establish the safety of insects for human consumption.…”

“…While toxicity evaluations similar to those conducted in this study have been performed for other edible insects such as Tenebrio molitor ( Han et al, 2014 ), Allomyrina dichotoma ( Noh et al, 2015 ), and Gryllus bimaculatus ( Lee et al., 2016 ), few studies have evaluated the toxicity of L. migratoria . Therefore, some safety evaluations conducted in this study were performed to according to international test guidelines ( OECD, 2008 ).…”