Policosanol fabrication from insect wax and optimization by response surface methodology.

Jinju Ma,Hong Zhang,Zhongquan Zhang,Kai Li,Youqiong Wang,Xiaoming Chen,Liyi Ma,David A Lightfoot

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0197343

Abstract

BackgroundInsect wax is a famous biological resource for the role in economic production in China. Insect wax is a good source of policosanol, which may is a candidate supplement in foodstuff and pharmaceuticals that has important physiological activities. Therefore, this work aims to investigate a high-yield and rapid method for policosanol fabrication from insect wax.ResultsThe conditions for policosanol fabrication were optimized as follows: an oil bath temperature of 112.7°C and reductant dosage of 0.97 g (used for the reduction of 10.00 g of insect wax). The yield of policosanol reached 83.20%, which was 4 times greater than that of existing methods, such as saponification. The total content of policosanol obtained under the optimal conditions reached 87%. In other words, a high yield of policosanol was obtained from insect wax (723.84 mg/g), that was 55 times higher than that generated from beeswax-brown via saponification. The concentrations of metal residues in policosanol were within the limits of the European Union regulations and EFSA stipulation. The LD50 values for oral doses of insect wax and policosanol were both > 5 g/kg.ConclusionPolicosanol was fabricated via solvent-free reduction from insect wax using LiAlH4 at a high yield. The fabrication conditions were optimized. Policosanol and insect wax showed high security, which made them potential candidates as supplements in foods, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. The rapid and high-yield method has great potential for commercial manufacturing of policosanol.

Highlights

Chinese white wax scale (CWWS) (Ericerus pela) is a famous insect species because of its role in economic production in China, and these insects are widely distributed in most parts of China, Japan and the Korean peninsula, from the subtropics to temperate regions [1, 2]
A high yield of policosanol was obtained from insect wax (723.84 mg/g), that was 55 times higher than that generated from beeswax-brown via saponification
The concentrations of metal residues in policosanol were within the limits of the European Union regulations and European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) stipulation

Summary

Introduction

Chinese white wax scale (CWWS) (Ericerus pela) is a famous insect species because of its role in economic production in China, and these insects are widely distributed in most parts of China, Japan and the Korean peninsula, from the subtropics to temperate regions [1, 2]. Insect wax is more pure compared with rice bran wax, which contains impurities such as unsaturated aliphatic acids, glycerides, free acids, gum impurities, hydrocarbons, and so on, in addition to wax esters [16,17,18]. Insect wax consists of cerylcerotate as the major component, and the main policosanols fabricated from rice bran wax are docosanol and tetracosanol [18]. Insect wax represents a potential alternative to rice bran wax for policosanol fabrication. Evidence supporting such an approach is scarce. Insect wax is a good source of policosanol, which may is a candidate supplement in foodstuff and pharmaceuticals that has important physiological activities. This work aims to investigate a high-yield and rapid method for policosanol fabrication from insect wax

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