Table 3. Free amino acid profile of white-spotted flower chafer (Protaetia brevitarsis) larvae produced from commercial insect farms in Korea

Traits (μg/g dry matter)	Farm A¹⁾	Farm B	Farm C	Farm D	Farm E	p-value
Valine²⁾	1,368.69±69.00^b	891.82±10.82^c	1,470.54±25.93^a	1,459.79±12.06^a	1,518.16±36.22^a	<0.001
Isoleucine²⁾	431.90±16.33^b	277.69±1.67^d	369.80±9.52^c	376.03±5.22^c	510.59±10.36^a	<0.001
Leucine²⁾	126.47±5.54^d	112.47±0.97^e	134.82±3.35^c	167.78±3.36^b	201.30±5.29^a	<0.001
Lysine²⁾	1,168.64±56.31^a	792.90±6.82^b	655.66±19.66^c	552.99±9.52^d	638.15±14.01^c	<0.001
Tryptophan²⁾	65.51±113.46^c	ND⁴⁾	465.37±2.89^a	222.78±4.35^b	221.66±7.02^b	<0.001
Phenylalanine²⁾	62.57±5.48^c	54.21±1.75^d	113.59±1.00^a	102.13±4.16^b	110.60±0.33^a	<0.001
Methionine²⁾	21.81±1.11^a	13.54±0.46^c	8.30±0.30^d	19.07±0.39^b	22.07±0.54^a	<0.001
Histidine³⁾	2,388.76±53.45^a	1,944.83±14.40^b	1,546.20±38.85^c	1,307.52±5.49^d	986.86±37.79^e	<0.001
Tyrosine	674.83±28.98^b	629.00±6.13^c	533.85±19.72^d	341.92±7.41^e	718.50±17.98^a	<0.001
Arginine	2,662.03±172.10^a	1,927.53±27.42^b	1,667.22±40.52^c	1,030.30±9.67^d	2,058.50±53.13^b	<0.001
Glutamic acid	218.26±8.16^a	176.74±3.51^b	109.53±2.98^d	ND	143.09±3.37^c	<0.001
Serine	295.83±11.45^c	171.08±0.69^d	567.25±13.01^a	494.55±7.80^b	555.71±14.88^a	<0.001
Glycine	176.18±152.61^b	ND	747.42±30.15^a	ND	734.72±11.82^a	<0.001
Alanine	652.40±11.76^e	1,569.25±7.61^d	2,242.63±76.54^b	3,671.79±32.94^a	1,679.52±28.81^c	<0.001
Cystine	120.09±4.49^d	274.75±2.73^c	334.82±10.68^a	294.78±3.73^b	290.75±10.96^b	<0.001
Proline	1,419.10±2,457.95^b	4,023.17±32.40^a	ND	ND	ND	0.004
Phosphoserine	1,001.76±33.97^b	1,153.72±10.18^a	773.77±22.32^c	ND	ND	<0.001
Taurine	25.29±2.48^c	44.11±3.67^a	ND	30.93±0.27^b	34.03±0.77^b	<0.001
Phosphoethanolamine	251.96±17.07^a	240.74±22.16^a	34.10±0.92^b	39.12±1.34^b	49.44±2.84^b	<0.001
Urea	4,810.24±726.27^a	3,723.01±15.04^b	1,127.56±39.51^c	915.88±4.39^c	1,180.26±27.17^c	<0.001
α-Aminoadipic acid	20.86±2.19^c	24.23±1.17^b	35.84±0.77^a	23.23±0.71^b	35.09±0.24^a	<0.001
Citrulline	ND	ND	ND	4,518.23±25.88	ND	<0.001
α-Amino-butyric acid	14.63±0.50^b	27.00±0.05^a	12.76±1.07^c	11.73±0.38^d	ND	<0.001
Cystathionine	78.61±3.32	94.11±9.83	97.09±10.80	98.96±0.84	72.21±2.26	NS⁵⁾
β-Alanine	303.74±23.76^a	267.28±9.72^b	182.98±12.70^c	192.88±13.50^c	166.11±2.60^c	<0.001
β-Aminoisobutyric acid	77.88±10.03^a	29.75±1.20^b	27.84±1.61^b	ND	22.23±6.64^b	<0.001
γ-Amino-butyric acid	63.10±3.25^b	99.12±1.20^a	10.36±8.99^d	24.80±0.76^c	12.34±10.69^d	<0.001
Ethanolamine	ND	ND	ND	9.95±0.27	ND	<0.001
Ammonia	407.66±54.21^c	489.47±15.11^b	446.16±5.27^bc	583.32±3.64^a	470.20±7.69^b	<0.001
δ-Hydroxylysine	29.33±1.81^b	24.90±0.67^c	11.19±0.96^e	432.75±2.03^a	20.14±0.57^d	<0.001
Ornithine	96.07±2.72^b	213.52±3.52^b	70.93±1.67^b	448.61±5.27^a	135.64±178.97^b	0.001
1-Methyl-L-histidine	150.87±1.98^b	157.21±2.04^a	104.09±1.88^c	36.70±0.93^e	91.43±1.46^d	<0.001
3-Methyl-L-histidine	28.42±7.04^a	11.43±0.64^b	ND	ND	ND	<0.001
Total	19,213.48	19,458.55	13,901.71	17,408.52	12,679.30

All values are presented as mean±SD of triplicate (n=3).
Farm A, Protaetia brevitarsis larvae fed with oak only; Farm B, Protaetia brevitarsis larvae fed with oak and scrub; Farm C, Protaetia brevitarsis larvae fed with commercial feed; Farm D, Protaetia brevitarsis larvae fed with private fermented feed; Farm E, Protaetia brevitarsis larvae fed with by-product from mushroom compost.
Indicates essential amino acids for adult human.
Indicate conditional essential amino acid for infants.
ND, not-detected.
NS, non-significance (p≥0.05).
Means with different superscripts indicate significant difference within a row (p<0.05).