Untargeted screening and differential analysis of bioactive compounds in male and female silkworm (Bombyx mori) pupae through Orbitrap Exploris mass spectrometry.

Silkworm pupae are highly valuable as edible insects due to their nutritional and bioactive properties. Investigating the bioactive compounds within silkworm pupae can provide useful information for advanced processing and utilization of this resource. In this study, untargeted metabolomics analysis was employed to characterize the bioactive compounds present in silkworm pupae (Bombyx mori). A total of 93 bioactive compounds were putatively annotated, including 23 amino acids and their derivatives or metabolites, 21 lipids and their analogues, 17 phenolics, and others. Bioactive compounds in male and female silkworm pupae were analyzed using chemometrics. In the process, 34 bioactive compounds were screened as differential bioactive compounds. Bioinformatics analysis was then conducted on the differential bioactive compounds to gain a deeper understanding of these disparities. Based on the Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways, 34 metabolic pathways related to these differential metabolites were putatively annotated.