Study of Intestinal Microbiota in Tenebrio molitor L. (Mealworm Larvae) Hydrolysate

摘要

Insects are attracting attention as important future industrial resources in the world. Insect farming has attracted public attention for commercialization, especially in Korea, partly because of the government subsidy and support based on the legislation of so-called 'insect industry law'. Insects have high nutritional values of protein, amino acid, and vitamin B, and are suitable for animal feeds following the natural food web. Currently, crickets and mealworms are utilized widely. In this study, control, positive, and mealworm hydrolysate (30 kDa and 100 kDa) diet feeds were provided to Balb/c mice for eight weeks. The diet did net change over the eight week period. The number of lactic acid bacteria in the intestines was increased significantlyin those fed the mealworm hydrolysate. No change in the total number of bacteria was observed in each group, and neither Escherichia colt nor the E. coli group showed a change. These results suggest that mealworm hydrolysate can be considered as a dietary prebiotic to improve the human gut microbial population, but further application studies on humans will be necessary.