Nitrogen-to-Protein Conversion Factors for Three Edible Insects: Tenebrio molitor, Alphitobius diaperinus, and Hermetia illucens | Zendy

Renske H. Janssen | Zendy; JeanPaul Vincken | Zendy; L.A.M. van den Broek | Zendy; Vincenzo Fogliano | Zendy; C.M.M. Lakemond | Zendy

Open Access

Nitrogen-to-Protein Conversion Factors for Three Edible Insects: Tenebrio molitor, Alphitobius diaperinus, and Hermetia illucens

Author(s) -

Renske H. Janssen,

JeanPaul Vincken,

L.A.M. van den Broek,

Vincenzo Fogliano,

C.M.M. Lakemond

Publication year - 2017

Publication title -

journal of agricultural and food chemistry

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 1.203

H-Index - 297

eISSN - 1520-5118

pISSN - 0021-8561

DOI - 10.1021/acs.jafc.7b00471

Subject(s) - hermetia illucens , larva , insect , nitrogen , extraction (chemistry) , food science , mealworm , biology , conversion factor , chemistry , botany , chromatography , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics

Insects are considered a nutritionally valuable source of alternative proteins, and their efficient protein extraction is a prerequisite for large-scale use. The protein content is usually calculated from total nitrogen using the nitrogen-to-protein conversion factor (Kp) of 6.25. This factor overestimates the protein content, due to the presence of nonprotein nitrogen in insects. In this paper, a specific Kp of 4.76 ± 0.09 was calculated for larvae from Tenebrio molitor, Alphitobius diaperinus, and Hermetia illucens, using amino acid analysis. After protein extraction and purification, a Kp factor of 5.60 ± 0.39 was found for the larvae of three insect species studied. We propose to adopt these Kp values for determining protein content of insects to avoid overestimation of the protein content.

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