Evaluation of vitamin-mineral, anti-nutritional factor, antioxidative properties, and bioactive compound contents of Antheraea mylitta insect pupae, displaying its credentials for animal feed

Antheraea mylitta, non-mulberry silkworm pupae are one of the most significant byproducts of the sericultural silk reeling business. It has gained a great deal of recognition due to its potential nutritional status with the presence of bioactive substances. Most water and fat-soluble vitamins are also present in pupae. The full-fat pupae have detected desirable amounts of macro (Mg, K, Ca) and micro (Zn, Cu) minerals. The anti-nutritional factors (ANFs) namely oxalate, saponin, tannin, and phytic acid were also investigated from the full-fat dried pupae meal. Among the bioactive compound profile, a total 15 flavonoid compounds, including catechin being the highest followed by naringenin, epicatechin, quercetin, and myricetin have been investigated in the full-fat pupae. Among phenolic acid compounds, a total of 18, mainly ferulic acid followed by gentisic acid, 2,4-dihydroxibenzoic acid. Moreover, the bioactive properties of the pupae were also assessed during the study. Antheraea mylitta pupae's vitamin, mineral, anti-nutritional status, and bioactive chemicals showed promise for investigation as nutraceutical and functional foods that may be usefully used in fish or other animal diets for bioconversion.