THE POTENTIAL BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF TENEBRIO MOLITOR (COLEOPTERA TENEBRIONIDAE) AND GALLERIA MELLONELLA (LEPIDOPTERA PYRALIDAE) ON HUMAN HEALTH

The nutritional composition of the edible insect species Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) and Galleria mellonella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) was evaluated in view of their feasible consumption in human diet. Larvae and pupae of both the edible insect species resulted to be a good energy source because of their high total fat content (37.42-48.97% of dry weight). Fatty acid composition was similar in T. molitor larvae and pupae. Conversely, G. mellonella larvae contained a higher percentage of medium and long-chain saturated fatty acids (SFA) than pupae (p= 0.015) while G. mellonella pupae showed a higher content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and a lower n-6/n-3 ratio than larvae (p= 0.003 and p= 0.006, respectively). Both the species contained low cholesterol values (13.56-29.08 mg/100 g of dry weight). The ability of the protein extracts from these insects to reduce blood pressure by inhibiting angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) has been also investigated. Significantly lower IC50 values were detected either in T. molitor (0.077-0.097 mg/mL) or G. mellonella (0.046-0.605 mg/mL) protein fractions hydrolyzed by gastrointestinal proteases than the corresponding crude extracts. Even if the mealworm T. molitor and the waxmoth G. mellonella show satisfactory values of UFA, low cholesterol contents and the ability to inhibit ACE in vitro, T. molitor larvae provide the SFA/UFA ratio (0.41) that better meets diet requirements for human health, as well as a high environmental efficiency of production. These results suggest the potential use of T. molitor larvae in food industry as ingredient in fortified foods and/or diet supplements for human consumption.