Recently, researches for novel food and medicinal materials have focused on insect
resources. Tenebrio molitor is an edible insect and recognized to have various biological properties, such as
antimicrobial, anticancer, antidementia, and antihypertensive effects. The aim of
this study was to identify previously unreported bioactive anti-platelet compounds
from T. molitor larvae. Chemical investigation on the larvae resulted in the isolation of ten secondary
metabolites. The structures of these entities were identified as cyclo(L-Val-L-Pro)
(1), cyclo(L-Ala-L-Pro) (2), cyclo(L-Pro-L-Tyr) (3), cyclo(L-Phe-L-Tyr) (4), cyclo(Val-Tyr) (5), cyclo(Ala-Ile) (6), hydroxytyrosol (7), N-acetyldopamine (8), N-acetyltyramine (9), and oleracein E (10) based on spectroscopic data analysis. All the isolates were evaluated for anti-platelet
aggregation properties by monitoring clotting time. Cyclo(L-Pro-L-Tyr) (3), hydroxytyrosol (7), and N-acetyltyramine (9) were shown to have platelet aggregation inhibitory activities. Collectively, these
results show that compounds 3, 7, and 9 could serve as candidates and provide scaffolds for the development of new anti-platelet
drugs.
