Potentiality of protein hydrolysates from Tenebrio molitor for health and nutrition

The world's population counts more than 7.8 billion people, and it is predicted that by the year 2050, this number will be close to 10 billion. Increasing agricultural and animal production will obviously have an influence on population growth and food demand, which will increase deforestation, water usage, and greenhouse gas emissions. This scenario emphasizes the importance of adopting a more sustainable and
balanced food source that prioritizes food safety, biodiversity and an efficient distribution of high-quality proteins for the entire world's population. Emergent and sustainable food sources comprise vegetables, microorganisms and insects (Barbosa et al. 2023). In recent years, edible insects have gain popularity due to their nutritional value, as they are a great source of dietary protein (approximately 60%), essential amino acids, fat and minerals. In countries where malnutrition is common, insects may offer a potential solution for mineral deficiencies (such as zinc and iron). Several peptides and amino acid sequences have been identified within a wide range of dietary proteins, which have been associated with bioactive properties. These have been identified, for example, for their antihypertensive, antioxidant, antidiabetic, immunomodulatory and mineral-binding properties (Nongonierma and FitzGerald 2017, Sousa et al. 2020). In addition, insects are environmentally sustainable due to the lower greenhouse gas emissions, less soil and water consumption, and have higher feed conversion efficiency than traditional livestock (Borges et al. 2023). In this study, Tenebrio molitor protein were broken down enzymatically into bioactive peptides and individual amino acids, in order to provide a promising source of nutritional and health compounds.