Dados do Trabalho

Título

PARAMETERS FOR OBTAINING A PROTEIN CONCENTRATE FROM THE LARVAE OF THE GIANT TENBRIDGE (Zophobas morio)

Introdução

Protein from insects has been studied as one of the world's future nutritional and techno-functional trends and could contribute to achieving food safety and be used in the food industry as an environmentally sustainable protein ingredient. This study determined the best parameters for obtaining a protein concentrate from the larvae of the giant teneworm (Zophobas morio).

Material e Métodos

From flour obtained after freeze-drying, grinding and defatting the larvae, the total protein content and the conditions for extracting the protein fraction were determined (solvent, concentration, ratio, time and pH) and the flow rate for obtaining the protein concentrate was established. The data was analyzed by ANOVA using Tukey's test, with p ≤ 0.05 considered a statistical difference.

Resultados e Discussão

The tenebrio larvae meal had 73.8% total protein. In the solubility study, the highest concentration of protein was obtained with NaOH (0.63 mol/L) in a ratio of 1:66 and extractability of 22 minutes, obtaining 563.13 mg/g of protein at the end, which corresponds to 76% of the total protein. The solubility profile (pH 1-12) showed that at pH 2 (82%) and pH 12 (88%) there was greater solubility of the total protein fraction, while at pH 5.0 (18%) there was less. Thus, the procedure for obtaining the protein isolate was defined by homogenizing the sample in a ratio of 1:66 in a 0.63 mol/L NaOH solution, under constant stirring for 22 minutes. The total protein extract was then diluted 2x, pH adjusted to 5.0 and left to stand for 1 hour. It was then centrifuged (3800 rpm/30 min/25 ºC). In the precipitate, the protein isolated from the Zophobas morio larva is obtained.

Conclusão

Therefore, the parameters for obtaining the protein isolate were determined.