Barre Annick, Pichereaux Carole, Simplicien Mathias, Burlet-Schiltz Odile, Benoist Hervé, Rougé Pierre
UMR 152 PharmaDev, Institut de Recherche et Développement, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université Paul Sabatier, 35 Chemin des Maraîchers, 31062 Toulouse, France.
Fédération de Recherche (FR3450), Agrobiosciences, Interactions et Biodiversité (AIB), CNRS, 31326 Toulouse, France.
Foods. 2021 Jan 30;10(2):280. doi: 10.3390/foods10020280.
The increasing development of edible insect flours as alternative sources of proteins added to food and feed products for improving their nutritional value, necessitates an accurate evaluation of their possible adverse side-effects, especially for individuals suffering from food allergies. Using a proteomic- and bioinformatic-based approach, the diversity of proteins occurring in currently consumed edible insects such as silkworm (), cricket (), African migratory locust (), yellow mealworm (), red palm weevil (), and giant milworm beetle (), was investigated. Most of them consist of phylogenetically-related protein allergens widely distributed in the different groups of arthropods (mites, insects, crustaceans) and mollusks. However, a few proteins belonging to discrete protein families including the chemosensory protein, hexamerin, and the odorant-binding protein, emerged as proteins highly specific for edible insects. To a lesser extent, other proteins such as apolipophorin III, the larval cuticle protein, and the receptor for activated protein kinase, also exhibited a rather good specificity for edible insects. These proteins, that are apparently missing or much less represented in other groups of arthropods, mollusks and nematods, share well conserved amino acid sequences and very similar three-dimensional structures. Owing to their ability to trigger allergic responses in sensitized people, they should be used as probes for the specific detection of insect proteins as food ingredients in various food products and thus, to assess their food safety, especially for people allergic to edible insects.
食用昆虫粉作为添加到食品和饲料产品中以提高其营养价值的替代蛋白质来源，其发展日益增加，因此有必要准确评估其可能的不良副作用，特别是对于患有食物过敏的个体。采用基于蛋白质组学和生物信息学的方法，对目前食用的昆虫如蚕、蟋蟀、非洲飞蝗、黄粉虫、红棕象甲和大谷盗中存在的蛋白质多样性进行了研究。其中大多数由系统发育相关的蛋白质过敏原组成，广泛分布于节肢动物（螨、昆虫、甲壳类）和软体动物的不同类群中。然而，一些属于离散蛋白质家族的蛋白质，包括化学感受蛋白、六聚蛋白和气味结合蛋白，成为食用昆虫高度特异性的蛋白质。在较小程度上，其他蛋白质如载脂蛋白III、幼虫表皮蛋白和活化蛋白激酶受体，对食用昆虫也表现出相当好的特异性。这些蛋白质在其他节肢动物、软体动物和线虫类群中显然缺失或含量少得多，它们具有保守的氨基酸序列和非常相似的三维结构。由于它们能够在致敏人群中引发过敏反应，因此应用作探针，用于特异性检测各种食品中作为食品成分的昆虫蛋白质，从而评估其食品安全，特别是对于对食用昆虫过敏的人群。
