Mealworm larvae recognized as functional ingredient for muscle maintenance

The larva of the mealworm beetle, commonly known in Korea as "gosoa," has been recognized as a functional ingredient for health functional foods — specifically for helping maintain muscle strength that may decline with age. A human trial found that adults aged 50 to 75 who consumed 2 grams of gosoa hydrolysate daily for 12 weeks gained an average of 5.4 kilograms in grip strength.

The Rural Development Administration announced Monday that gosoa hydrolysate had been registered as a functional ingredient for health functional foods after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety recognized its muscle-maintenance properties.

Gosoa hydrolysate is produced by treating defatted gosoa powder with enzymes to break down high-molecular-weight proteins into smaller peptides and amino acids. While dried gosoa powder is rich in protein, its high-molecular-weight structure slows digestion and absorption and limits how it can be processed into different product forms. The Rural Development Administration developed a hydrolysis technology to reduce the protein to a lower molecular weight, addressing those limitations.

The human trial to verify the muscle-maintenance effect enrolled 44 adults between the ages of 50 and 75. After 12 weeks of consuming 2 grams of gosoa hydrolysate per day, participants' average grip strength rose from 21.4 kilograms to 26.8 kilograms — an increase of 5.4 kilograms.

Performance on the five-times sit-to-stand test, a standard measure of physical function, also improved, with completion time falling from 7.38 seconds to 6.23 seconds. In the quadriceps — one of the largest muscle groups in the body — extensor strength increased 7.7-fold and flexor strength 2.3-fold.

The Rural Development Administration also conducted research to identify the mechanism of action. Researchers isolated a peptide called "AAPY" as the key marker compound in gosoa hydrolysate and confirmed that it activates the SIRT1 and Akt pathways, which regulate muscle cells, inhibiting protein breakdown and promoting muscle synthesis.

Gosoa was registered as a general food ingredient in the Korean Food Standards Codex in March 2016. Since then, the Rural Development Administration has continued research into its use as a new protein source. Clinical studies in cancer patients recovering from surgery found it helped suppress muscle loss and improve immune cell function. A separate study involving cancer patients undergoing treatment who consumed gosoa shakes showed increased protein intake and gains in muscle mass.

With the new functional ingredient designation, gosoa's range of applications is expected to expand from general foods into the health functional food category. The Rural Development Administration, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and industry partners jointly drove the research and ingredient development.

The production infrastructure is also in place. On Sept. 8, the government completed the country's first insect industry complex in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, capable of mass-producing insect-based ingredients. The facility can produce up to 1,000 metric tons of gosoa ingredients annually for use in health functional foods, beverages, protein powders and medifood — specialized foods for medical purposes.

Jung Kyung-seok, director of food industry policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said the registration was expected to accelerate industry-led commercialization. "We will strengthen the industrial ecosystem encompassing production and retail, backed by a stable supply chain through the insect industry complex, to enhance international competitiveness," he said.

Kim Nam-jeong, head of the agricultural biology division at the Rural Development Administration, said the achievement marked a significant milestone for the health functional food market as insects made the leap from general food to functional ingredient. "We will expand public-private cooperation to advance the development of insect protein as a functional ingredient and bring it to market as finished products," Kim said.