• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.251-256
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• 2017

This study aimed to assess fatty acid composition and anti-inflammatory effects, such as nitric oxide(NO) production, expression of $TNF-{\alpha}$ and interleukin-6(IL-6), of Tenebrio molitor larva using RAW 264.7 cells. The content of total fatty acid in Tenebrio molitor larva was 76.14%, which was composed of oleic acid(42.12%), linoleic acid(32.67%) etc. There was no cytotoxicity at a dose level of 0.1, 1.0, 10, and $100{\mu}g/mL$ of freeze dried Tenebrio molitor larva ethanol extract(FDTEtOH) on RAW 264.7 cells. FDTEtOH significantly decreased NO production in LPS(lipopolysaccharide)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Also, FDTEtOH dose-dependently suppressed the expression of $TNF-{\alpha}$ and IL-6. Thus, these results showed that Tenebrio molitor larva has the potential to be used as an anti-inflammatory food to improve immunity.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.367-373
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• 2014

In order to investigate the impact of recycling agricultural wastes as feed for mealworm (Tenebrio molitor), we evaluated the replacing effect by the different level of tangerine shell, Chinese cabbage, king oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii) and Enoki mushroom (Flammulina velutipes) substrates on wheat bran feed. Larval survival rate, larval weight, developmental period of larva, pupation rate and pupal weight were evaluated. In tangerine shell and Chinese cabbage replacement group, no replacing effects found. In all groups replacing by spent King oyster mushroom (Pleurotus eryngii) substrate, survival rate of larva was similar to that of control group but larvae weighed less than control group significantly. Developmental period of larva increases in the group of King oyster mushroom substrate replacement. Larval and pupal weight in Enoki mushroom (Flammulina velutipes) substrate by the level of 40 and 50%, replacement effect showed best results in successive breeding considering pupation rate. It is concluded that replacing 40 and 50% of Enoki mushroom (Flammulina velutipes) substrate is appropriate to substituted diet of Tenebrio molitor larvae.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.31-39
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• 2016

The reasons for selecting insects as future food are high growth and feed conversion rates, reproduce quickly, low environmental footprint, valuable source of nutrients, and source of a various undeveloped functional materials. Since 2014, Tenebrio molitor larva, Protaetia brevitarsis larva, Allomyrina dichotoma larva, and Gryllus bimaculatus were registered as new food in Korea because it has been scientifically proven that they are not harmful to eat and nutritious. Therefore they can be legally produced and sold as food. Accordingly, there are 7 species of edible insects including grasshopper, silkworm pupa, and Baekgangjam in Korea. To improve aversion to edible insects, using their powder, chop, and gravy hidden their morphology, we developed more than 100 different kinds of recipes for general food menu, held several times tasting events to be familiar with edible insect food, and published cookbooks. Moreover, we developed more than 50 kinds of recipes for patients. To eat the insect food more and more people, we have been analyzed various function of insects. If health food based on the results of functional analysis is developed, edible insect's value will be raised. If various insect foods are developed and consumed by people, edible insect market will grow up more than 100 billion won in 2020.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2013

Although the mealworm larva (Tenebrio molitor) is high protein source, aversion feature of the larva made it difficult for consuming as a food. In this study, we established optimal powder manufacturing process for T. molitor larva for using as a novel food. For this purpose, it should be feed with the bran sterilized by water vapor for 3-5 days, starved without water or food for 3 days, and then the larvae were sterilized before freeze-drying. The sterilized T. molitor was lyophilzed and grinded by a blender. A safety of the powder as a food was validated by evaluation of Raw 264.7 macrophage cytotoxicity using MTS assay. As above results, we propose that optimal powder manufacturing process established in this study can be used in industrial production of T. molitor as a novel food.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.534-543
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• 2015

Recently, the Tenebrio molitor larva was recognized as a novel food ingredient by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Korea. Accordingly, we investigated its physical and sensory characteristics to establish the cooking conditions that may increase the demand of T. molitor larvae as a food. In this study, T. molitor larvae were cooked by various methods such as hot air dry, oven-broil, roast, pan fry, deep fry, boil, steam, and by microwave. In the physical evaluation of texture, the hardness and fracturability values were highest when larvae were cooked in the microwave. The adhesiveness, springiness, and chewiness values were highest when larvae were boiled. Boiled and steamed larvae had the highest lightness (L value), while oven-broiled larvae had the highest redness (a value) and yellowness (b value) values. Sensory evaluations assessed the appearance, aroma, flavor, and texture of cooked T. molitor larvae. Steamed and boiled larvae sizes were significantly large and the form was well preserved similar to fresh larvae. The moisture heat cooked (steamed and boiled) T. molitor larvae had the aroma and flavor of steamed corn, canned pupa, and boiled mushroom. In case of oven-broiled T. molitor larvae, the aroma and flavor of mealworm oil, seafood, sweet and roasted sesame were higher than in those cooked by other methods. In texture among sensory evaluation, the hardness and crispiness were the highest in the hot air dried and oven-broiled larvae, whereas juiciness was significantly higher in the boiled and steamed. Accordingly, we suggest that oven-broiled T. molitor larva will be prefered by consumer, due to its the rich aroma and flavor.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.185-190
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• 2013

The superworm, as known the larva of Zophobas morio, has been officially imported from 2011 and bred commercially in Korea. But it is named as the corrected scientific name, Zophobas atratus by junior synonym throughout traditional taxonomy in this study and newly designated Korean name as 'a-me-ri-ca-wang-geo-jeo-ri' in terms of resource management. Z. atratus was compared with wild native tenebrionids, Promethis valgipes and a commercial reared Tenebrio molitor on the basis of DNA barcode analysis. As the results, the average genetic divergence was 21.4% between Z. atratus and P. valgipes, and 20.9% between Z. atratus and T. molitor. These large divergences imply these tenebrionids species can be easily identified by DNA barcodes. The results of genetic divergences within species also suggest that Korean populations of Z. atratus, having the same haplotype, might be introduced from the same area of foreign country. On the other hand, a population of T. molitor was separated into two distinct intra-specific groups with DNA barcoding gaps ranged from 1.17- 2.19%. We suppose that domestic breeding entities of T. molitor might be introduced and mixed from two different local groups. Through this study, we expect that classification for two tenebrionid introduced from foreign countries can be used for the management of insect resources in Korea.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.5-9
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• 2014

Tenebrio molitor is a major pest of stored grain, although its larvae have potential for use as food. However, little is known about the characteristics of individual larval instars of this species, and the number of instars remains disputed. Therefore, we assessed T. molitor for the average number of instars and its characteristics at different larval stages. The focus of this study was to establish a foundation for further studies on the characteristics of each larval instar. All of the T. molitor larvae showed incubation periods of 7 to 8 d and a period of 3 to 4 d for the $1^{st}$ instar. Beyond the $1^{st}$ instar, there were relatively large variations in the number of days in each instar period. Before emergence, most of the larvae had typically gone through 15 to 17 instars. The highest rate of pupae formation, 28.32%, was observed in the $17^{th}$ instars. The body length gradually increased with each successive instar, reaching its maximum at the 17th instar. Beyond the $17^{th}$ instar, however, the body length decreased. The larvae were white in the first instar, and gradually turned brown after the $2^{nd}$ instar.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.979-986
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• 2016

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dried mealworm (Tenebrio molitor larva) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and blood profiles in weaning pigs. A total of 120 weaning pigs ($28{\pm}3days$ and $8.04{\pm}0.08kg$ of body weight) were allotted to one of five treatments, based on sex and body weight, in 6 replicates with 4 pigs per pen by a randomized complete block design. Supplementation level of dried mealworm was 0%, 1.5%, 3.0%, 4.5%, or 6.0% in experimental diet as treatment. Two phase feeding programs (phase I from 0 day to 14 day, phase II from 14 day to 35 day) were used in this experiment. All animals were allowed to access diet and water ad libitum. During phase I, increasing level of dried mealworm in diet linearly improved the body weight (p<0.01), average daily gain (ADG) (p<0.01) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) (p<0.01). During phase II, ADG also tended to increase linearly when pigs were fed higher level of dried mealworm (p = 0.08). In addition, increasing level of dried mealworm improved the ADG (p<0.01), ADFI (p<0.05) and tended to increase gain to feed ratio (p = 0.07) during the whole experimental period. As dried mealworm level was increased, nitrogen retention and digestibility of dry matter as well as crude protein were linearly increased (p = 0.05). In the results of blood profiles, decrease of blood urea nitrogen (linear, p = 0.05) and increase of insulin-like growth factor (linear, p = 0.03) were observed as dried mealworm was increased in diet during phase II. However, there were no significant differences in immunoglobulin A (IgA) and IgG concentration by addition of dried mealworm in the growth trial. Consequently, supplementation of dried mealworm up to 6% in weaning pigs' diet improves growth performance and nutrient digestibility without any detrimental effect on immune responses.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.286-295
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• 2017

This study was performed to develop a liquid flavoring material from Tenebrio molitor larva by using Aspergillus oryzae. T. molitor with 1% A. oryzae for 48 hours yielded the highest protease activity. Different salt concentrations and rice flour addition affected the fermentation characteristics for 90 days. LN (low salt, rice flour non-addition) yielded high protease activity, and total nitrogen and amino-type nitrogen contents. LN showed Glu accounting to 15.16% of the free amino acids and yielded high scores of sweet and savory taste, and overall acceptance after 90 days. Rice flour addition group showed high content of total and reducing sugars with high amylase activity, however, low salt concentration had more effect on sensory acceptance than rice flour addition had (p<0.05). All samples had total acidity <1% and LN (90) showed the highest browning index and aroma intensity, as noted from maillard reaction, as well as good sensory acceptance.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.387-394
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• 2013

The developmental times of mealworm beetle larvae, Tenebrio molitor were studied at six temperatures ranging from 15 to $30^{\circ}C$ with 60~70% RH, and a photoperiod of 14L:10D. Mortality of larval period was very low at 17 and $20^{\circ}C$ but did not die over $22^{\circ}C$. Developmental time of larva was decreased with increasing temperature. The total developmental time of T. molitor larvae was longest at $17^{\circ}C$ (244.3 days) and shortest at $30^{\circ}C$ (110.8 days). Egg and larvae were not developed at $15^{\circ}C$. The lower developmental threshold and effective accumulative temperatures for the total larval stages were $6.0^{\circ}C$ and 2564.1 degree-days, respectively. The relationship between developmental rate and temperature was fitted by a linear model and nonlinear model of Logan-6($r^2$=0.95). The distribution of completion of each development stage was well described by the 2-parameter Weibull function ($r^2$=0.8502~0.9390).