Yu Xiao, He Qiang, Wang Dun
Institute of Entomology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China.
Front Nutr. 2021 Sep 20;8:689746. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.689746. eCollection 2021.
The yellow mealworm, , is an important resource insect with a high protein percentage that is widely farmed in many countries. In this study, the content dynamics for protein, fat, chitin, and other components in the whole development process of yellow mealworms were analyzed by sampling from different instars and combining with their growth conditions. The results of the component dynamic analyses in the different development stages showed that the percentages of protein, fat, and chitin were the highest in the larval stage, pupal stage, and adult stage, respectively. The results of amino acid composition dynamic analysis also indicated comparatively higher essential amino acids in the earlier instar (e.g., before the 9th instar) larvae. Therefore, we found that the earlier instar is better than the final instar as the insect farming harvest time. Furthermore, the larvae in the earlier instar consumed dramatically less feed and could effectively reduce the farming costs of insect farmers. This finding provides an alternative option to farm insects for different purposes and in an economic way.
黄粉虫是一种重要的资源昆虫，蛋白质含量高，在许多国家被广泛养殖。在本研究中，通过从不同龄期取样并结合其生长条件，分析了黄粉虫整个发育过程中蛋白质、脂肪、几丁质和其他成分的含量动态。不同发育阶段成分动态分析结果表明，蛋白质、脂肪和几丁质的百分比分别在幼虫期、蛹期和成虫期最高。氨基酸组成动态分析结果还表明，早期龄期（如第9龄期之前）的幼虫中必需氨基酸含量相对较高。因此，我们发现早期龄期作为昆虫养殖收获期比末龄期更好。此外，早期龄期的幼虫饲料消耗量大幅减少，可有效降低昆虫养殖户的养殖成本。这一发现为以经济方式出于不同目的养殖昆虫提供了一种替代选择。
