Effects of Chitosan as a Growth Regulator of the Mealworm Tenebrio molitor

Abstract

The effects of high molecular weight chitosan (HMWC) and its hydrolysates with different degrees of deacetylation (DD) and molecular weight (MW) on mealworm growth were verified. Differences in body length and weight of mealworms by DD and MW of chitosan added with wheat bran as a basic growth control were compared as a basic control. As a result of evaluating the viability of mealworms by the MW or DD of chitosan in continuous culture for about two months, a survival decrease of less than 10% compared to the control group was evaluated. In addition, as a result of assessing the substrate specificity according to the isolation of mealworm intestinal microorganisms, significant enzymatic activity to degrade pNP-GlcN and pNP-(GlcNAc)2 was verified. It is believed that it is due to the chemical structural properties of chitosan that it possibly contributes to the metabolism of intestinal microbes. The point to be emphasized is that in the industrial aspect, growth inhibition for a certain period of time in the process of storage and continuous cultivation of mealworms can solve the problem of storage that must be stored in a complete growth inhibition state. Therefore, the application of chitosan as a mealworm growth regulator according to the difference between DD and MW can be expected. The results of this study should be evaluated in that it provides important information for understanding the correlation between metabolism and growth of intestinal microorganisms, since it may be critical to control the growth rate, especially in the larval state.