Welfare of the mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) breeding with regard to nutrition value and food safety

  • Anna Adámková Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Department of Quality of Agricultural Products, Kamýcká 129, 165 21 Prague 6 – Suchdol
  • Martin Adámek Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication, Department of Microelectronics, Technická 3058/10, 616 00 Brno
  • Jiří Mlček Tomas Bata University in Zlin, Faculty of Technology, Department of Food Analysis and Chemistry, Vavreckova 275, 760 01 Zlin
  • Marie Borkovcová Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Agronomy, Department of Zoology, Fisheries, Hydrobiology and Agriculture, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
  • Martina Bednářová Mendel University in Brno, Department of Information Technology, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno
  • Lenka Kouřimská Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Department of Quality of Agricultural Products, Department of Microbiology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Kamýcká 129, 165 21 Prague 6 – Suchdol
  • Josef Skácel Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Communication, Department of Microelectronics, Technická 3058/10, 616 00 Brno
  • Eva Vítová Brno University of Technology, Faculty of Chemistry, MRC-laboratory of biotechnology and biomaterials research, Purkyňova 118, 612 00 Brno
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5219/779
Keywords: welfare, Tenebrio molitor, nutritional stress, way of killing, heavy metal

Abstract

Livestock welfare is an important condition for obtaining high-quality and safe food. According to the legislation edible insects are classified as livestock; and for this reason it is necessary to comply with the edible insect welfare conditions. This article focuses on selected welfare conditions for mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) breeding, with special focus on the fat content influenced by different breeding temperature (17 °C, 23 °C and 28 °C). Maximum fat content 24.56% was observed at 23 °C. To obtain maximum fat content this appears to be the optimal breeding temperature. Another evaluated aspect was the nutritional stress and a way of killing, and their impact on fat content, which showed to decrease with the nutrient stress. The most decline was detected towards the end of the observation period. The analysis showed that in terms of preservation of the fat content, the best way is killing by freezing, due to the metabolism slowdown. We also analysed the content of heavy metals in a mealworm larvae using cyclic voltammetry with subsequent evaluation. In the measured sample concentrations of heavy metals did not exceed the maximum allowable concentration of heavy metals in this commodity. From this point of view mealworm appears to be a safe food.

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Published
2017-07-04
How to Cite
Adámková, A., Adámek, M., Mlček, J., Borkovcová, M., Bednářová, M., Kouřimská, L., Skácel, J., & Vítová, E. (2017). Welfare of the mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) breeding with regard to nutrition value and food safety. Potravinarstvo Slovak Journal of Food Sciences, 11(1), 460-465. https://doi.org/10.5219/779
Issue
Vol. 11 No. 1 (2017): Potravinarstvo Slovak Journal of Food Sciences
Section
Articles
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