Insects are nutritional, sustainable protein alternatives. It is estimated there are about 2,000 edible insect species that include beetles, caterpillars, wasps, ants, bees, grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, cicadas, termites, dragonflies and flies. As efforts continue to encourage entomophagy in North America via insect-derived ingredients, protein functionality, bioactivity and tropomyosin cross-reactive allergenicity remain important factors.<br/>Protein hydrolysates are commonly used food ingredients due to their high nutritive value and improved bioactivity arising from the production of short peptides and free amino acids. Protein extraction and fractionation are crucial steps to produce insect protein ingredients with adequate functionality. Factors such as solid to water ratio, pH, ionic strength and thermal treatment used are known to affect insect protein extractability and yield. In addition, extent of hydrolysis, amino acid composition, and protein solubility are important considerations in the evaluation of hydrolysates’ biological activities.<br/>This presentation gives an overview of the bioactive properties of protein hydrolysates obtained from different insect species and different hydrolysis/extraction conditions reported in literature. Examples of how different extraction methods and/or hydrolysis conditions affect the bioactivity and allergenicity of insect protein hydrolysates will also be discussed.

Considerations in the hydrolysis of insect proteins to improve their bioactivity and decrease allergenicity

2019 Fall National Meeting

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