Multi-omic analysis reveals molecular and microbial taxa insights in Tenebrio molitor in relation to age and diet

Tenebrio molitor is a viable option as an edible insect product, offering a valuable source of high quality protein and fat suitable for both animals and humans. As the interest in T. molitor continues to grow, a notable knowledge gap remains regarding age and diet related metabolic changes and their correlations with microbial taxa. In this study, we present multi omics findings for T. molitor across three distinct age groups reared on two different diets (chicken feed and wheat bran). Leveraging recent advancements in analytical chemistry, particularly ambient mass spectrometry for rapid and cost effective metabolic profiling, we employed direct analysis in real time high resolution mass spectrometry (DART HRMS) to characterize the evolving metabolic profiles of T. molitor. Our results identified distinct lipid and purine fingerprints associated with each age and diet category. Additionally, microbial community dynamics were assessed by next generation sequencing, revealing dominant taxa from the genera Enterococcus, Spiroplasma, Tenebrionicola, Lactococcus, Pediococcus, and Tenebrionibacter. A multi omics correlation analysis between metabolomic and metagenomic data revealed that low levels of myristic and palmitic saturated fatty acids were positively correlated with the low abundance of Enterococcus spp. in T. molitor fed chicken feed. Our findings highlight the efficacy of the multi omics approach for comprehensive characterization of microbial taxa and metabolite expression in insect based matrices, along with their complex correlations. Finally, we demonstrated the potential of untargeted DART HRMS as a rapid and effective approach for investigating the entometabolic profile of T. molitor.