Nutritional quality of mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) oil obtained by extrusion
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The world is rapidly changing, obviously at an environmental level, always at an economic level, and unfortunately at
a social level, leading all of this to significant cultural changes, namely what people eat. One of the main issues of
concern is precisely the availability of food resources in parallel with its nutritional and bioactive potential, which is
why the industry and academia have been looking for alternative sources of essential molecules for the well-being
and health of the consumers, such as: proteins, bioactives, essential fatty acids, and fibres. Edible insects have gained
some prominence for their protein content and fatty acid content. However, there is still a great aversion on the part
of consumers to insect-based food products, especially at the organoleptic level (texture, taste and appearance). Oilrich
components are just one of the answers to maximize the use of these new sources of fatty acids, mainly omega-
3 and -6, such as the oil extracted from Tenebrio molitor (mealworm).1 The larvae are traditionally used for animal
feed, pets and fish, but in some countries like China and Netherlands, they have been already consumed for food
purposes. Its legal acceptance for incorporation and development of new food products was already stablished and,
since it is tolerant to various environmental conditions and does not require a large area for growth, it is perfectly
suitable for mass production.2 In this context, the present work aimed to characterize the mealworm oil, obtained by
extrusion techniques, regarding its content in fatty acids by gas-chromatography coupled to a flame ionization (GCFID)
detector, as also its salt content (NaCl) by the Mohr titration method. The results regarding the fatty acids profile
in terms of total saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are described in
Table 1. Twenty-two individual fatty acids were identified, having been found, in percentages higher than 0.1%, the
following compounds: elaidic acid (C18:1n9, 44.7±0.1%), linoleic acid (C18:2n6, 31.4±0.5%), palmitic acid (C16:0,
14.2±0.4%), octadecanoic acid (C18:0, 2.9±0.2%), α-linoleic acid (C18:3n3, 1.293±0.001%), and heptadecanoic acid
(C17:1, 0.123±0.002%), which are in accordance with previous bibliography.3 Regarding salt content, 2.3±0.1 mg/mL
was within the accepted limits. This is one of the attributes that most affects the organoleptic acceptance of
mealworms for food purposes, besides the particle size; as such, future studies are needed to further investigate the
physicochemical characteristics of the studied oil sample. The results obtained revealed the huge potentiality of
mealworm larva for the development of new food products, representing one of the greatest answers to the
increasing unavailability of sustainable natural sources rich in molecules beneficial for human health.
