Effects of Defatting Methods on the Physicochemical Properties of Proteins Extracted from Hermetia illucens Larvae

In this study, we investigated the effects of various defatting methods, including organic solvent (aqueous, acetone, ethanol, and hexane) extraction and physical (cold pressure) extraction, on the nutritional, physicochemical, and functional properties of proteins extracted from Hermetia illucens larvae. The total essential amino acid contents were higher with cold pressure protein extraction than other treatments. The surface hydrophobicity with cold pressure treatment was the lowest, and there were no significant differences among the other treatments. The protein solubility after defatting with organic solvent was higher than for other treatments. The nonreduced protein band at 50 kDa of the defatted protein prepared using organic solvent was fainter than in the cold pressure treatment. The cold pressure-defatted protein showed the highest emulsifying capacity, and the water extracted protein showed the lowest emulsifying capacity. Although organic solvents may be efficient for defatting proteins extracted from insects, organic solvents have detrimental effects on the human body. In addition, the organic solvent extraction method requires a considerable amount of time for lipid extraction. Based on our results, using cold pressure protein extraction on edible insect proteins is ecofriendly and economical due to the reduced degreasing time and its potential industrial applications.