Nutritional Composition of White-Spotted Flower Chafer (Protaetia brevitarsis) Larvae Produced from Commercial Insect Farms in Korea

This study was conducted to compare the nutritional composition of white-spotted flower chafer (Protaetia brevitarsis) larvae produced from five commercial insect farms in Korea. The feeding sources of larvae were different as follows: Farm A, fermented oak sawdust; Farm B, fermented oak and scrub sawdust; Farm C, commercial feed; Farm D, private fermented feed; and Farm E, byproduct from mushroom compost. Drying yield significantly varied by insect farm, ranging from 14.12% to 27.28%. However, there was only small difference (5.14–7.38 g/100 g) in moisture content of dried larvae powder (p<0.001). The larvae produced from Farm A, B, and D presented higher protein content and lower lipid content compared to those from Farm C and E (p<0.05). No significant differences in total and essential amino acid contents were found, regardless of the insect farms. Phosphoserine, taurine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid, well-known physiological useful compounds, were detected in form of free amino acids. The major fatty acids in the P. brevitarsis larvae were oleic acid, palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, and linoleic acid. The larvae from Farm A, B, and E exhibited higher oleic acid content than those from Farm B and C (p<0.05). Moreover, the larvae from Farm A presented the lowest saturated fatty acid (SFA)/unsaturated fatty acid (UFA) ratio. Although the underlying mechanisms of the nutritional composition differences are not yet clearly understood, this study suggests that the Farm A production system, using only oak feed, could be potentially beneficial in increasing the protein content and decreasing SFA/UFA ratio in P. brevitarsis larvae.