Abstract
The diet of Western human societies is characterized by an excess of saturated fatty acids (FAs) and a high concentration of ω-6 relative to ω-3 polyunsaturated FA (PUFA). These unbalanced diets are suspected to trigger diseases and disorders. To alleviate this public health concern, the production of healthier meat with more PUFAs of higher ω-3 concentration could potentially be achieved by modifying livestock diets. The high nutritional value and limited breeding costs of edible insects have brought insect feed into the discussion as a promising fat source for animal and human diets. In this study, we sought to increase the amount of ω-3 PUFAs in mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) larvae. We investigated the effects of diets varying in ω-3/ω-6 ratio and FA concentration but similar in PUFA proportion on larva FA composition. Mealworm larvae showed significant plasticity in lipid composition. High dietary ω-3/ω-6 ratios induced an increase in the proportion of ω-3 and a decrease in ω-6, which resulted in higher larval ω-3/ω-6 ratios, but also in higher larval PUFA proportion. Increasing FA concentrations in larva diets also favored the accumulation of PUFAs to the detriment of monounsaturated and saturated FAs. Providing ω-3-rich seeds to mealworm larvae could allow the production of economical animal fat with healthier PUFA percentages (> 60%) and ω-3/ω-6 ratios (>0.5).
Highlights
The biochemical and biophysical characteristics of polyunsaturated fatty acid (FA) (PUFA) are crucial for animal physiology
An increase in dietary ω-3/ω-6 ratio was significantly related to a decrease in the proportions of ω-6, monounsaturated FA (MUFA) and saturated FA (SFA)
The dietary FA concentration was negatively correlated with the proportions of MUFAs and SFAs in the larvae, but positively correlated with the larval proportions of polyunsaturated FA (PUFA)
Summary
The biochemical and biophysical characteristics of PUFAs are crucial for animal physiology. Animal species use a combination of desaturases and elongases to convert alpha-linolenic acid (ALA, 18:3ω-3) and linoleic acid (LA, 18:2ω-6) into longer polyunsaturated chains. They generally cannot introduce a double bond beyond the carbon 9 to synthetize ALA and LA de novo A few insect species are exceptions as they produce delta12-desaturase and can convert oleic acid into LA (Brandstetter & Ruther, 2016; Cripps, Blomquist, & de Renobales, 1986; Zhou et al, 2008)
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