title: Food Value of Mealworm Grown on Acrocomia aculeata Pulp Flour.
abstract: Insects have played an important role as human food throughout history, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America. A good example of edible insects is the mealworm, Tenebrio molitor Linnaeus, 1758 (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae), which are eaten in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. This species is easily bred in captivity, requiring simple management. The bocaiuva (Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd) is an abundant palm tree found in the Brazilian Cerrado, providing fruits with high nutritional value. The aim of this work was to determine the chemical composition of T. molitor grown in different artificial diets with bocaiuva pulp flour. The nutritional composition, fatty acid composition, antioxidant activity, trypsin activity and anti-nutritional factors of larvae were analyzed. The results showed that mealworms grown on artificial diet with bocaiuva are a good source of protein (44.83%) and lipid (40.45%), with significant levels of unsaturated fatty acids (65.99%), antioxidant activity (4.5 μM Trolox/g of oil extracted from larvae) and absence of anti-nutritional factors. This study indicates a new source of biomass for growing mealworms and shows that it is possible to breed mealworms in artificial diet with bocaiuva flour without compromising the nutritional quality of the larvae.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology, Federal University of Grande Dourados, Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ariana Vieira
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Exact Sciences and Technology, Federal University of Grande Dourados, Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eliana Janet
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Sanjinez-Argandoña
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Realeza, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: Adelita Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Linzmeier
authors.affiliation: Course of Chemistry, State University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Claudia Andrea Lima
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Protein Purification and Biological Functions, Departament of Natural Science, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Lígia Rodrigues
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Macedo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018533:Biomass; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000032:analysis; D005433:Flour; D005504:Food Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007814:Larva / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development; D019684:Magnoliopsida; D009753:Nutritive Value; D013712:Tenebrio / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D004044:Dietary Proteins; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated