*2.1. Raw Materials*

Living mealworm larvae (*T. molitor*) at age of 73 days were kindly provided by Neoxis (Saint-Flavien, Québec, Canada). First, mealworm larvae were separated from feed substrate and frass residues by passing through a coarse filter. Next, larvae were killed by freezing at −30 ◦C without starvation. Frozen mealworm larvae were freeze-dried, ground with a household compact blender (Magic Bullet, Los Angeles, CA, USA) and passed through an 800 µm mesh sieve to produce *T. molitor* meal (TMI). This meal was stored at −20 ◦C before further analysis and processing. All experiments were performed in triplicate using three separate insect batches.
