title: Rearing Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleptera: Tenebrionidae) in the "Lunar Palace 1" during a 105-day multi-crew closed integrative BLSS experiment.
abstract: Yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor L.) is one of the animal candidates for space bioregenerative life support systems. In this study, T. molitor was involved in a 105-day multi-crew closed integrative BLSS experiment for a tentative rearing study. The results showed that the overall bioconversion rate (ratio of T. molitor gained to the total feed consumed) of T. molitor reared in the closed system was 8.13%, while 78.43% of the feed was excreted as frass. T. molitor reared in the closed system had a good nutritional composition. The eight essential amino acids (EAAs) in T. molitor larvae accounted for 41.30% of its total amino acids, and most EAA contents were higher than the suggested amino acid pattern recommended by the FAO/WHO. T. molitor sample obtained in this work was high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, and low in saturated fatty acids, indicating that the composition of fatty acids was beneficial to human health. In the open environment outside the experimental system, we simultaneously reared three parallel groups of larval T. molitor using the same feeding regime and temperature condition. Compared with T. molitor reared in the open environment, larvae reared in the closed system grew slower. With the course of time t, the growth rate of T. molitor in the open environment was 0.839e(0.017t) times that of larvae in the closed system. This paper can provide data for future design and improvement of BLSS containing a T. molitor rearing unit.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; Institute of Environmental Biology and Life Support Technology, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; International Joint Research Center of Aerospace Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Leyuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; Institute of Environmental Biology and Life Support Technology, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; International Joint Research Center of Aerospace Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Beizhen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; Institute of Environmental Biology and Life Support Technology, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; International Joint Research Center of Aerospace Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; Institute of Environmental Biology and Life Support Technology, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; International Joint Research Center of Aerospace Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Dawei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; Institute of Environmental Biology and Life Support Technology, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; International Joint Research Center of Aerospace Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Minjuan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; Institute of Environmental Biology and Life Support Technology, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; International Joint Research Center of Aerospace Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Guanghui
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; Institute of Environmental Biology and Life Support Technology, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China; International Joint Research Center of Aerospace Biotechnology and Medical Engineering, Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Beijing 100191, China. Electronic address: LH64@buaa.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids; D000601:Amino Acids, Essential; D000818:Animals; D007814:Larva; D016081:Moon; D013712:Tenebrio
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D000601:Amino Acids, Essential
keywords: Bioconversion; Bioregenerative life support system; Growth model; Nutrient composition; Tenebrio molitor L.