Evaluation of the quality of Protaetia brevitarsis larvae through amino acid–activity relationship

Abstract

Detection of primary metabolites such as amino acids, carbohydrates along with the secondary metabolites is important for the quality control of herbal. Therefore, a simple amino acid analysis method was investigated for the quality control of Protaetia brevitarsis. Six batches of P. brevitarsis collected from different feeding batches were used to analyze the amino acid composition and content. The amino acid composition was consistent in the six batches of P. brevitarsis, and the amino acid content of six batches of P. brevitarsis was also relatively stable. Under these conditions, the six batches of P. brevitarsis also possessed stable antioxidant activity. The stable composition and content of the amino acids could guarantee the stable antioxidant in batch-to-batch of P. brevitarsis. So, the amino acid–activity relationship as an effective method can be used to assess the quality of P. brevitarsis.

Keywords

• protaetia brevitarsis
• quality control
• amino acids
• antioxidation