Toxicological safety evaluation of freeze-dried larva powder.

White-spotted flower chafer () is an edible insect and its larva was used as a traditional Asian medicine. It's a promising material as a novel food source because of its nutritional components. In this study, as part of the preclinical toxicity program, we evaluated the toxicity of freeze-dried larva powder to develop a novel food material. In a single-dose oral toxicity study in rats, there were no changes in mortality, clinical observations, and body weight in rats administered 5000 mg/kg larva powder. In a 13-week oral repeated dose toxicity study in rats, there were no adverse effects or changes in mortality, clinical observations, body weight, food consumption, ophthalmology, clinical pathology, necropsy, organ weight, and histopathology at doses of 300, 1000, and 3000 mg/kg/day. In identification of allergic reactions, larva powder induced no increases of serum immunoglobulin E and histamine concentrations over 13 weeks of oral administration in rats. In a genotoxicity assessment, larva powder didn't provoke bacterial reverse mutations, chromosomal aberrations, and micronucleated reticulocytes. Therefore, freeze-dried larva powder shows no evidence of toxic and mutagenic changes under the experimental conditions of the present in vitro and in vivo studies.