Effect of ultrasound pretreatment and sequential hydrolysis on the production of Tenebrio molitor antidiabetic peptides

Diabetes prevalence has been rapidly increasing worldwide, and there is a need for searching natural compounds to prevent and treat it. Bioactive peptides derived from insect protein would be an interesting sustainable option. However, the potential of insects such as mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) as source for antidiabetic peptides has not been widely studied. In this work, the influence of ultrasound and the sequential hydrolysis with subtilisin and trypsin hydrolysis were analysed for the release alpha-glucosidase inhibitory peptides. Short time of ultrasound improved the following releasing of bioactive peptides but longer ultrasound treatment time limited their production. Subtilisin hydrolysis did not allow the release of a-glucosidase inhibitory peptides, but it is needed to cleave the protein before trypsin releases these peptides. These high-bioactive hydrolysates could be used as ingredient regulating the glycaemic index in food formulation. (C) 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.