The yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor L., Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) is an edible insect and will be of great importance as food and feed due to their high content of micro and macronutrients as well as their ubiquitous occurrence. Drying is an important preservation step in industrial insect production and processing. Currently, the information about the stability of functional and nutritional components in mealworms during drying is still limited. In the future, it will be necessary to find suitable strategies to restrict the oxidative spoilage of the larvae during drying procedure and post-stream processing.

Selective extraction of intracellular compounds from the Tenebrio molitor by mechanical pressing assisted by pulsed electric field treatment Houcine Mhemdia, Chaima Dridia, Samir Mezdourb aSorbonne Universités, Université de Technologie de Compiègne, Laboratoire Transformations Intégrées de la Matière Renouvelable (UTC/ESCOM, EA 4297 TIMR), Centre de Recherche de Royallieu, CS 60319, 60203 Compiègne Cedex, France bParis-Saclay Food and Bioproduct Engineering research unit (Say Food)(Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, AgroParisTech) 91300 Massy, France samir.mezdour@agroparistech.fr ABSTRACT Satisfying the growing demand for proteins, notably for the purpose of feeding animals, and toning down the impact of animal husbandry on the environment, while at the same responding to public demand for product quality, are major challenges for international organisations, private operators and agri-food researchers. Among several possible additional sources of proteins, the insect solution seems to be relevant and credible as a complementary option alongside other conventional ones (fish and soya). The development of an insect industry requires the development of technically reliable and economically viable transformation processes. The application of emerging technologies like pulsed electric field for the valorisation of insects seems an interesting way to explore. Unfortunately the literature review marks the scarcity of works on this topic. The University of Technology of Compiègne (France) and AgroParisTech (France) are the first laboratories to work on this subject. Tenebrio molitor was used for investigation. Theses larvae are rich in water, proteins and lipids. The objective of the study was to fractionate the raw material in order to obtain a liquid fraction rich in oil and a solid fraction rich in proteins according to the bioreffinery concept. For this purpose, mechanical expression was used for insect dewatering and defatting. In order to enhance the pressing kinetics and to increase the extraction yield, pulsed electric fields was applied as pre-treatment. Results showed that the application of a pre-treatment before pressing improves the extraction yield and reduces the extraction time. Pulsed electric fields seems to be very promising technology. In fact the application of the electrical treatment induces cells membranes permeabilization faciliting thus the extraction step at cold temperature and preserving the product quality. The results obtained in this work will be very useful to pave the way for insects’ valorisation in the bioreffinery concept.

Mycotoxins are highly carcinogenic and harmful to animal and human health, as well as the agricultural industry. Mycotoxins commonly occur in grains and other feed and food commodities. The occurrence of harmful concentrations of mycotoxins in agricultural commodities can be limited by agronomical practices. However, given the effects of local weather on the presence of the fungi producing mycotoxins, they cannot be avoided. Hence, in addition to the continuous attention for prevention and control strategies for mycotoxins, it is essential to find innovative and efficient ways to detoxify these harmful compounds. Continuous expansion of the global population and the resulting higher demand for crop and livestock production require an increased arable land area. The design of the insect supply chain is circular, with a low environmental footprint and efficient conversion of substrates. Certain insects can convert organic waste products into protein resourcefully, but more research is needed regarding safety issues. In previous research, the edible insects Tenebrio molitor, Aalphitobius diaperinus, and Hermetia illucens were identified as capable of metabolically converting and excreting mycotoxins, such as aflatoxins and deoxynivalenol. This study aimed to review the scientific literature on the metabolization of mycotoxins by insects. The study covers various mycotoxins, various insect species and both natural and artificial contaminated substrates. The results of this review study will be presented during the conference.

While entomophagy is a traditional diet in more than 113 countries, this practice has completely disappeared from the lifestyle in Western countries. However, there is a growing interest in insects as human food in anticipation of the food security challenges related to the worldwide population growth. Nevertheless, food neophobia represents the major challenge which negatively affects the social acceptability for this alternative food resource. It was suggested that the integration of edible insects as food ingredients (protein concentrate or isolate) in different food formulations could enhance the consumer acceptability. In order to do so, an increased knowledge of the nature of the extracted proteins as a function of the food processing used is necessary as it is strongly related to their functional properties. Multiple defatting methods have been explored in the literature since lipid extraction is a key and crucial step during edible insect flours processing as it improves protein recovery and purity. Efficient lipid removal from the solid insect matrix remains conventional Soxhlet extraction by using hexane. However, the use of hexane could have a denaturing effect on edible insects’ proteins resulting in a decrease of their functional properties. Consequently, the aim of this work is to characterize the protein profile of yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) high value-added ingredients according to the defatting process used and to evaluate its impact on protein functional properties. First, high protein content fractions were produced from untreated yellow mealworms with and without an additional hexane defatting step. Their respective protein profiles were compared using 2D-electrophoresis and proteomics. Results showed similar profiles for major edible insect proteins between hexane-defatted and non-hexane-defatted fractions. However, some specific differences were observed in terms of protein species and molecular weights which are under identification by proteomic tools. Our findings can be used to improve insects’ acceptability as an alternate protein source amongst consumers by improving the knowledge surrounding the defatting process during insect meal production and its effect on protein profile and functional properties.

Edible insects are traditionally consumed in several countries of the world due to their nutritional content. Extraction of their nutrients is an effective way to incorporate insects into food products. Application of pulsed electric field (PEF) processing has been suggested to optimize the extraction process of compounds from agricultural matrices. The present study investigates the application of PEF on crickets to optimize the extraction of their valuable components. Insect biomass was processed with PEF at several energy input conditions (4.9 - 49.10 kJ/kg) aiming to increase the protein and fat yield. Further, a synergistic effect of PEF and freeze drying was studied, with freeze dried and rehydrated material. Proteins were isolated using a solid-liquid extraction process (90 min, DI water, pH 10). Following centrifugation, the amount of soluble proteins in the supernatant was determined via Bradford method. Individual amino acid composition of the extracts was analyzed using HPLC analysis. Fat was isolated via solid-liquid extraction (45 min, n-hexane with teri-buolylated hydroxyl toluene). After centrifugation the fat was separated from the supernatant in a rotary evaporator. Individual fatty acid composition was determined with GC-MS following microwave assisted esterification process. Most intense PEF conditions (24.53 – 49.10 kJ/kg) led to highest yields of both components. Regarding the fresh material, fat and protein yields were increased by up to 53 % and 100 %, respectively. Treating dried and rehydrated material did not increase the fat yield, while the protein yield was increased by 73 %. Further, the effect of PEF processing resulted in specific effects on amino acid and fatty acid composition. The present study explores the application of PEF treatment on insects and crickets in particular and indicates that PEF offers the potential of accelerating the extraction process of insect compounds.

This study focuses on the potential bioaccumulation of cadmium from the feeding media in the mealworm species Yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) and Giant mealworm (Zophobas morio) and in the Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens).

A world growing demand for protein sources originating from sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies (which are in line with ideas of EU/USA Green Deals) leads to exploration of new protein sources. Larvae of black soldier fly (BSF) (Hermetia illucens) seems the ideal candidate for the massive production due to fast growth rate, high content of protein and lipids, and valorization of a wide variety of organic substrates. This species can be grown on different types of organic wastes such as brewers waste, manure, waste from restaurants, etc. The bioaccumulation of metals in insects is a very well-known phenomenon. However, before entering the market, it is crucial to explore the safety of insect products. This study explored the ability of bioaccumulation of metals and other elements in BSF depending on their diet. The study directly connects the rearing of BSF on different types of wastes and explores how these matrices affect the bioaccumulation of metals in BSF larvae. Moreover, the study discusses the possibilities to minimize contamination. The larvae were fed with eight different organic wastes such as peas, spent grain, oatmeal, rice, soybeans, breadcrumbs, curd, and fruits-vegetables mix. A comparison of the content of heavy metals in BSF reared on these eight different substrates was conducted. The content of 15 elements in fully-grown larvae was measured. Results were compared with legislative limits for undesirable substances in animal feed (Directive 2002/32/EC of the European Parliament) and risk assessment was performed. The developmental duration and bioconversion were monitored too. The results showed that the most accumulated elements were Cd and Mn. For the future application of larvae as a feed, the accumulation of Cd in the insect is the most problematic phenomenon. Further research to ensure the safety of BSF products is necessary. This project was supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TH04030169).

Cirina forda caterpillars were dried in tunnel dryer at temperatures of 40, 50 and 60 ° C with real time mass measurement. Complementary, adsorption-desorption isotherms were done by DVS method for 25, 30, 40 and 50°C. Experimental data were fitted with BET model.The experimental kinetic results were compared to a large range if mathematical model describing the kinetics. Newton model was the best model to predict the moisture evolution of Cirina forda during drying because simplest and give a good fittability with correlation coefficient between 0.996 – 0.999 and RMSE between 0.03 – 0.19. No significant precision was provided by the other models. Sorption isotherms were type III and few hysteresis was observed. BET model give a good fitting with experimental data.

Yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) larvae can be grown on, and apparently decontaminate, wheat-based diets contaminated with up to 15 mg/kg ergot alkaloids.