Abstract
In Korea, various insect species such as crickets and grasshoppers, as well as honey bee and silkworm pupae, have been consumed as food and used in oriental medicine. In this study to evaluate useful the bioactivities and potentially adverse effects of edible insects, ethanol extracts of Allomyrina dichotoma (AD), Tenebrio molitor (TM), Protaetia brevitarsis (PB), Gryllus bimaculatus (GB), Teleogryllus emma (TE), and Apis mellifera (AM) were prepared and evaluated with regard to their anti-thrombosis, anti-oxidant and haemolysis activities against human red blood cells. AD and TE extracts showed strong anti-oxidant activities, which were not related to polyphenol content. All ethanol extracts, except AM extract, showed strong platelet aggregation activities. The platelet aggregation ratios of the extracts were 194%–246% of those of the solvent controls. The effects of the AD, TM, PB, GM, and AM extracts on thrombin, prothrombin and various coagulation factors were negligible. Only the extract of TM showed concentration-dependent anti-coagulation activities, with a 1.75-fold aPTT (activated Partial Thromboplastin Time) extension at 5 mg/mL. Of the six insect extracts, TM and AM extracts exhibited potent haemolytic activity. Our results on the insect extracts’ functional properties suggest that edible insects have considerable potential not just as a food source but as a novel bio-resource as well.
Highlights
As the imbalance between food production and consumption increases, the environmental burden to produce sufficient food creates diverse socio-economic concerns, compounded by climate change.To identify alternative food sources has become an important issue [1,2]
The results came from analyses of three species of beetles (Allomyrina dichotoma: Dynastidae; Protaetia brevitarsis: Cetoniidae; Tenebrio molitor: Tenebrionidae), two species of crickets (Teleogryllus emma and Gryllus bimaculatus: Gryllidae) and the honey bee Apis mellifera ligustica [13,14]
The highest yield was observed in Tenebrio molitor (TM) (40.5%) and followed by Teleogryllus emma (TE), Protaetia brevitarsis (PB), Allomyrina dichotoma (AD), Gryllus bimaculatus (GB)
Summary
To identify alternative food sources has become an important issue [1,2]. Insects are receiving particular attention as a sustainable alternative to meet future food demands and satisfy nutritional requirements [3,4,5,6,7]. In Korea, the use of insects in the traditional Korean medicine is an age-old practice [8,9] and certain species like silkworms (Bombyx mori) and grasshoppers (Oxyoa sinuosa) have been accepted as regular food items throughout the country [9,10,11,12]. The useful bioactivities of certain insects, such as the anti-adipogenic effect of T. molitor larvae in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and anti-obesity effects of T. molitor larvae in high-fat
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