Microfiltration for effective microbiological decontamination of edible insects – Protein hydrolysis, aggregation and pH are critical for protein recovery

During the processing of insects for food and feed applications, thermal treatments are often used for decontamination purposes. However, these treatments denature proteins comprising their functional properties. Milder methods for microbiological decontamination can be used, such as microfiltration. Therefore, in this study dead-end microfiltration (0.2 µm polyethersulphone membrane) was tested for decontamination of soluble fractions of lesser mealworms and house crickets obtained at pH values of 3 and 8. The results showed that dead-end microfiltration was successful in the removal of microorganisms (total viable count), removing the need for thermal treatments for the permeates. Protein recovery in the permeate was relatively low (14–43 %). Lesser mealworms at pH 3 gave the highest protein recovery in the permeate (43 %), as explained by the activity of endogenous proteases producing soluble peptides during microfiltration. Confocal imaging showed that the efficiency of microfiltration was reduced by membrane fouling caused by protein aggregation. The presence of lipids in the pre-filtrate does not hamper the permeate protein recovery. In conclusion, dead-end microfiltration with a 0.2 µm membrane is successful in achieving microbial stability. A pH of 3 is recommended during the extraction process to obtain a higher protein recovery. [Display omitted] •Dead-end microfiltration led to microbiologically stable insect protein fractions.•Permeate protein recovery after microfiltration: lesser mealworm >house cricket.•Permeate protein recovery at pH 3 was higher than at pH 8.•Endogenous proteolytic hydrolysis increased permeate protein recovery.•Protein aggregation primarily caused a reduction in membrane flux.