Fatty Acid and Amino Acid Profiles of Seven Edible Insects: Focus on Lipid Class Composition and Protein Conversion Factors.

Abstract

This study is based on the fatty acid and amino acid profiles of seven edible insect species: Acheta domesticus, Alphitobius diaperinus, Blaptica dubia, Galleria mellonella, Locusta migratoria, Tenebrio molitor, and Zophobas morio. The aim of the present study is to provide new data on the fatty acid distributions among lipid classes as well as the species-specific protein conversion factor (Kp) of a wide range of insects in order to further improve the nutritional characterisation of insects as food. Oleic acid was the predominant fatty acid in all insects except for A. domesticus, in which a significantly higher percentage of linoleic acid was found. The majority of the lipids were neutral lipids. A significant amount of α-linolenic acid in the phospholipid fraction of L. migratoria was shown, while in T. molitor, phospholipids were the only fraction in which a measurable amount of docosahexaenoic acid was found. Overall, in most insects, the phospholipid fraction had the highest polyunsaturated fatty acid content compared to the other classes, which may be protective in terms of auto-oxidative stability. Kp values in the range of 4.17 to 6.43 were obtained. Within the nutritional quality indices, all insects showed healthy fatty acids and high-quality amino acid profiles.