Abstract:

In the present study, an alkali extraction procedure to extract protein from Zophobas morio pupae was proposed.
The effect of alkali concentration, solid/liquid ratio (g/mL), temperature and extraction time on the extraction efficiency of
protein was investigated by one-factor-at-a-time method and then the extraction parameters were optimized by orthogonal
array design. The optimum extraction conditions were determined as 1.0 g/100 mL, 1:10 (g/mL), 60 ℃ and 2 h for alkali
concentration, solid/liquid ratio (g/mL), temperature and extraction time, respectively. Three repeated extractions of
Zophobas morio pupae under the optimized conditions gave rise to an average crude protein content in final extracts of
82.13% and an average protein recovery of 81.54%.

Key words: Zophobas morio, pupae, protein, yield, optimization