Effects of High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP) Processing and Temperature on Physicochemical Characterization of Insect Oils Extracted from Acheta domesticus (House Cricket) and Tenebrio molitor (Yellow Mealworm)

Abstract

Oil portion of Tenebrio molitor (yellow mealworm) and Acheta domesticus (house cricket) were examined and it was investigated how the physicochemical properties of the oils changed with High Hydrostatic Pressure Assisted Extraction (HHP-E) and conventional solvent extraction (CE) with hexane. The effect of HHP-E at 500 MPa and 30 and 40 °C for 15 min on the properties of oils was compared with the CE. Following the extraction of oil, fatty acid composition, peroxide value, crystallization and melting points, total phenolic content and antioxidant activities were determined. Oil yield was found in the range of 22.75–24.22% for mealworm and 16.17–18.09% for cricket with significant amount of Ω-3 and Ω-6 fatty acids. Fatty acid composition of insect oils was significantly affected from HHP-E and extraction temperature (p < 0.05). The difference between crystallization and melting point of mealworm were found to be higher than cricket (p < 0.05). HHP-E insect oil had desirable characteristics to be used as a food ingredient.