Exploring the potential of black soldier fly larvae oil: Supercritical CO2 extraction, physicochemical analysis, antioxidant properties, shelf life, and keratinocyte growth inhibition

Abstract

The oil production potential of Hermetia illucens, commonly known as black soldier fly larvae, showed a great promise, yielding approximately 20.18 %–25.94 % of oil when extracted using the supercritical CO2 method. The main fatty acids found in this supercritical CO2-extracted oil were lauric acid, linoleic acid, oleic acid, and palmitic acid. Noticeably, the extracted oil contained a high total phenolic content and had antioxidant activities. Furthermore, this research applied a zero-order kinetic model to predict the shelf life of the extracted oil when stored at temperatures ranging from 25 °C to 55 °C. The predicted shelf life ranged from 2.42 to 3.63 months. In addition to these properties, the oil demonstrated the ability to inhibit the growth of keratinocytes in human skin by approximately 1.69 %–76.70 % at concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 100 mg/ml. According to these findings, the black soldier fly larval oil has the potential to be a high-quality, health-promoting component with applications in a variety of industries, including food and feed manufacturing, medicines, and cosmetics.