Open AccessMealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor L.) exuviae as a novel prebiotic material for BALB/c mouse gut microbiota
Author(s) -
Gyoo Taik Kwon,
HyunGyun Yuk,
Su Jung Lee,
YoungHoon Chung,
Han Su Jang,
Jong-Sang Yoo,
Kyung Hoon Cho,
Hyunseok Kong,
DongBin Shin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
food science and biotechnology/food science and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.595
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 2092-6456
pISSN - 1226-7708
DOI - 10.1007/s10068-019-00699-1
Subject(s) - mealworm , prebiotic , biology , gut flora , food science , population , microbiology and biotechnology , larva , biochemistry , ecology , medicine , environmental health
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of yellow mealworm ( Tenebrio molitor L.) exuviae (ME) given as a prebiotic in 20% of the diet fed to BALB/c mice. Analysis of the ME revealed that it was mostly composed of crude protein (52.94%), crude fiber (10.70%), and moisture (10.54%). When ME was fed to mice for 8 weeks, the number of intestinal lactic acid bacteria increased, reaching similar numbers (4.50 ± 0.80 CFU/mL) to those (4.70 ± 0.80 CFU/mL) of the control group not fed ME. Microbiome analysis showed that 8 weeks feeding of ME promoted the growth of Bifidobacteriaceae and Lactobacillaceae compared to the POS group, indicating the positive effects of feeding 20% ME on the intestinal microbiota of mice. These results suggest that ME can be considered as a dietary prebiotics to improve human gut microbial population, but further application study to human is necessary.