Silkworm pupae are insect oil resources. So far, various methods such as pressing, organic solvent leaching, supercritical CO2 extraction, aqueous enzymatic method, and acid/alkali hydrolysis have been used to extract silkworm pupae oil. Extraction of oil from silkworm pupae by pressing, organic solvent extraction (leaching) and acid/alkali hydrolysis are the applications of traditional oil extraction processes in silkworm pupae processing. Supercritical CO2 extraction technology is an extraction process that has been industrialized in recent years. Ultrasonic, microwave-assisted extraction and aqueous enzymatic methods are oil extraction processes that are being studied based on material characteristics and product development needs.

The extraction of silkworm chrysalis oil has not yet been industrialized, but there have been a large number of reports on its extraction technology. Since the crude fiber content of silkworm pupae is very low, the oil extraction rate during pressing is low, and a large amount of oil remains in the silkworm chrysalis meal. The traditional pressing process is not suitable for the extraction of silkworm chrysalis oil. The use of organic solvents to extract silkworm pupa oil is simple and low-cost, with high oil yields (both above 95%). It is currently the most researched extraction technology.

 However, during solvent extraction, the silkworm pupae need to be dried and crushed, which makes it difficult to separate the protein and pupa shell of the silkworm pupae, which reduces the oil yield and increases the difficulty of the process. Supercritical CO2 extraction technology is one of the lipid extraction technologies that has been industrialized in recent years. When used to extract silkworm pupa oil, the extraction rate can generally reach more than 80%. Due to the high production cost, supercritical extraction is currently only suitable for high-quality products. Extraction of silkworm pupa oil and development of high value-added products. Compared with supercritical extraction technology, subcritical extraction technology is cheaper and easier to produce on a large scale.