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Insects play an important role in human life, for example, they have become food for humans or help people feed other animals, or are used in scientific research to advance human civilization. Insect nutrients are one of the elements that maintain the balance of the insect's body. It is both a source of energy to maintain the normal functioning of the body and a material basis for nourishing the insect's life activities, and a "raw material" to add to the insect's immunity. It is important to ensure the quality of insects. There are six essential nutrients for insects as follows.
Fig 1. Six essential nutrients for insects.
The six major nutrients of insects are necessary to maintain a healthy physiological state, given the importance of insect nutrients, Lifeasible provides insect nutrient testing services to ensure insects are up to snuff with a very professional team. Some of the tests we can provide are proteins, water, lipids, vitamins and sugars.
| Types | Content | Methods |
| Proteins | Amino acid |
Lifeasible offers LC-MS for your insect proteins' detection. We use LC-MS to identify (or confirm the suspected identity of) each separated component and determine the composition and content of amino acids in samples with more detection indicators and more accurate results. It can also determine free or constitutive amino acids according to different needs. |
| Lipids | Fatty acid composition |
Lifeasible provides GC-MS to your insect lipids' detection which focus on fatty acid composition. Based on GC-MS, we combine the features of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify different substances within an insect sample. The method is compatible and accurate for the determination of medium and long-chain fatty acid content in insect samples using GC-MS. |
| Water | Moisture/ moisture content/ loss on drying |
Lifeasible provides the detection of moisture in your insect with standard instrument determination method. This method can test the content of moisture or the loos on drying in insect pretty convenient and less time consuming. |
| Sugars | Total sugar |
Lifeasible offers the technology of IC to detect total sugar in insect samples with higher compatibility and better detection limits. |
| Vitamins | Vitamin A/ retinol/ retinyl esters |
Lifeasible uses HPLC to test vitamins such as A, C, E and B like B2, B3, B5, B9 and B12 to maximize the quantitative determination of vitamins according to the nature of different vitamins.
We also use LC-MS to detect vitamins. The system of LC-MS was established to maximize the accurate qualitative and quantitative determination of vitamins according to the nature of different vitamins. |
| Vitamin E/ tocopherol | ||
| Vitamin B1/ thiamine | ||
| Vitamin B2/ riboflavin | ||
| Vitamin B3/ niacin | ||
| Vitamin B5/ pantothenic acid | ||
| Vitamin B9/ folic acid | ||
| Vitamin B12/ cyanocobalamin | ||
| Vitamin C/ ascorbic acid |
Insect nutrient content detection can be used for the following samples. The number of samples is not less than 5. Each sample weights 0.2 mg or more.
Lifeasible provides nutrient detection of proteins, water, lipids, vitamins and sugars in insects with higher compatibility, less time consuming and accurate qualitative, and quantitative determination of substances according to your needs by experienced teams. If you have any questions of the specific detection content or if you are interested in our nutrient detection services, please click online inquiry for more detailed information.
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