View of INSECTS – THE NEW WORLD FOOD

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Vol. 04, Issue 12, December 2019 Available Online: www.ajeee.co.in/index.php/AJEEE

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INSECTS – THE NEW WORLD FOOD Dr. Archana Bansal

Associate Professor, Department of Zoology, Sri Tika Ram Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Aligarh (U.P.), 202001

Abstract - In the past insects were not considered as food, but the scenario is changing nowadays. The benefits of production of insects over conventional livestock are less emission of greenhouse gases and ammonia, less usage of water and land and thus more environment friendly. Entomophagy refers to the practice of eating insects. More than 2000 insect species are consumed worldwide. Edible insects are good sources of proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Chitin can serve as a prebiotic. Chitosan has various pharmacological activities. The potential concerns with the production of edible insects are lack of appropriate technology, shelf life of insect products, the concentration of heavy metals, allergens, and pesticides etc. The World Edible Insect Day is held on 23rd October.

Special emphasis should be made to make these products sustainable.

Keywords: Entomophagy, edible insects, nutritive value, protein.

1 INTRODUCTION

Insects in the past decades were never considered as food, but the world is witnessing a changing scenario regarding the edible nature of some insects. One of the major reasons for this is the paucity of agricultural land to grow food for the enormously increasing population. It is estimated that 1,900 species of insects are consumed worldwide by over two billion people. Edible species are eaten as immature (eggs, larvae, pupae, and nymphs) as well as adults also.

Entomophagy, the feeding of insects especially by humans (Jongema, 2017) is being promoted for several reasons (van Huis et al., 2013). The first reason is that insects are healthy and nutritious alternatives to foods such as chicken, pork, beef, fish etc., because many insects contain more protein and lower fat content than traditional meats, and high calcium, iron and zinc (van Huis et al., 2013).Second reason being that insects are cold-blooded, they efficiently convert feed into protein. For example, crickets need 12 times less feed than cattle. Third reason for their promotion is because they require less space and food than that oftraditional livestock. Fourth, the reason for eating insects as food is because they emit considerably fewer greenhouse gases (GHGs) and ammonia than most livestock.

Only a few insect groups such as termites

and cockroaches are exceptions, because they emit methane (van Huis et al., 2013).

Insect rearing also requires less land to expand production. Furthermore, it is very easy to produce insects in large numbers due to their higher reproduction rate than other livestock. One more benefit of entomophagy is less risk of zoonotic diseases.

2 MAJOR GROUPS OF EDIBLE INSECT SPECIES CONSUMED WORLDWIDE (TABLE 1)

Most common edible insects in India are grasshoppers, diving beetles, Asian long horned beetles, dragonflies, giant water bugs, termites, black soldier flies etc.

Beetles constitute about 31% of the total insects consumed, caterpillars (18%), bees, wasps and ants (14%), grasshoppers, locusts and crickets (13%), leafhoppers, plant hoppers, scale insects and bugs (10%), termites (3%), dragon flies (3%), flies (2%) and others (5%) (Van Huis et al. 2013). Insects can serve as food for humans as well as domestic animals. Lepidoptera are consumed almost entirely as caterpillars and Hymenoptera are consumed mostly in their larval or pupal stages. Both adults and larvae of the Coleoptera order are eaten, while the Orthoptera, Homoptera, Isoptera and Hemiptera orders are mostly eaten in the mature stage (Cerritos, 2009).

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Table 1 Most commonly used edible insects Orders Common English Names Stage eaten

Coleoptera Beetles Larva

Lepidoptera Butterflies, Moths Larva

Hymenoptera Wasps, Bees and Ants Larva/pupa/Adult Orthoptera Locusts, Grasshoppers, Crickets Nymph/Adult Hemiptera Leafhoppers, Scale insects, True Bugs Adult

Diptera Flies, Mosquitoes Larva/Pupa

Isoptera Termites De-winged Adults

Nutritional Value: Insects have several advantages in nutritional value. Their nutritional compositions are very similar to those of the traditional animal foods (Raubenheimer and Rothman, 2013).

Insects owing to their high nutritional value are being considered as promising sources of food (Van Huis, 2016).

Generally, edible insects are good sources of protein, lipids, fats, vitamins, minerals (particularly iron and zinc). MeanCrude protein content of different orders varies from 33% to 70% of dry weight which is even more than thetraditional food like meat.However, amino acids content of edible insects is found tobe almost equal (Belluco et al.,2015; Bukkens, 1997;

Payne et al.,2016; Ramos-Elorduy et al., 1997). In a few insects, some amino acids likemethionine, tryptophan and cysteine are present in low amount. Other amino acids like Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Phenylalanine, Threonine, Valine, Arginine, Histidine and Tyrosineare present in adequate amount in remaining groupsof edible insects which matches with the requirement of amino acids for adults recommended by WHO (2007).

Order Blattodea is the richest source of lysine, methionine, valine, arginine and tyrosinecompared with other insects.Other insect orders have a higher amount of respective amino acids than other protein sourceslike Coleoptera and Hymenoptera-leucine, Hemiptera- methionine, phenylalanine, Diptera- tryptophan, Isoptera-histidine and cystine, and Lepidoptera-valine.Among the stages of insects taken as food, nymphs are the most abundant source of almost all kinds of all kinds of amino acids (Tang et al., 2019). Furthermore, it has been reported that about 76% of recommended daily intake of proteins, 100% of recommended daily intake of vitamins (Agbidye et al., 2009), 335% of minimum recommended daily intake of iron (DeFoliart, 1992) can be provided by consuming 100 grams of caterpillars.

Insects have the largest reservoir of

antimicrobial peptides which can be utilized as alternatives to antibiotic drugs in the current scenario of increasing multi- drug resistance.

Medicinal value: A natural polysaccharide chitin, present in the exoskeleton has many pharmacological activities, such as wound healing, antihypertensive, anticancer, blood coagulant, anticoagulant, antiulcer, antimicrobial, antiviral, hypolipidemic and hypo-cholesterolemic activities (Tripathi and Singh, 2015) and is also useful in aquaculture, produced by acetylation of chitin. Several insect species like silkworm, wax moth, yellow mealworm have Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity which can be utilised in the management of cardio- vascular diseases in the future.

Most common processed food products made from insect products are flour, pasta, burger, bread, fitness protein bars, beer etc. The potential concerns with the production of edible insects are lack of appropriate technology, shelf life of insect products, the concentration of heavy metals, allergens and pesticides etc.

These hazards can be controlled by various methods like labelling of allergic hazards on the products, selective farming to minimise chemical hazards whereas microbial and parasitic hazards can be controlled by proper cooking processes.

The World Edible Insect Day, being held on 23 October, was introduced by Belgian entrepreneur Chris Derudder in 2015 to raise awareness globally for the consumption of edible insects, with a focus on Europe, North America, and Australia.Insects provide food at low environmental cost. Kenis and Hein (2014) and Riggi et al.(2014) reported the use of insects as human food and animal feed in West Africa.

Economic and Environmental Benefits of Entomophagy: Firstly, insects are

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3 taken as foods due to their low cost.

Because harvesting of wild species is almost free. While farming species, usually feed on a wide range of cheap fodders. Secondly, farmed edible insects use less carbon and water and emit less ammonia as compared with those of livestock, which are beneficial both for economy and the environment (Halloran et al., 2016). Thirdly, the life cycles of insects are usually completed in a shorter duration and require less breeding space (Klunder et al. 2012; Pimentel, 1991;

Ramos-Elorduy, 2008; Wilkinson, 2011) and sold at high prices in the market provide great opportunities of income globally (Munthali & Mughogho, 1992;

Payne, 2014; Sribandit et al., 2008).

Hazards and Precautions during eating of edible insects: Most edible insects are enriched in a particular nutritional constituent and contain a high number of calories, which may prove to be dangerous to certain people. For example, larvae of Phasus triangularis, composed of 77.2% of fat, so obese patients should avoid eating them (Ramos-Elorduy et al., 1997). Insect products rich in proteins can be hazardous to gout patients. A reference like recommended daily amounts (RDAs) should be proposed for these products. Proper cooking guides are essential as well. Likewise, the consumption of the feet of grasshoppers and locusts can cause intestinal blockage, which may be fatal (Bouvier, 1945).

Hemolymph of certain groups can be poisonous to human beings and it should be removed before use. Some species have always been at a low level, for instance, mayflies and caddish flies. These insects might face extinction if people continue catching them from fields for eating (Feng et al., 2018). Some insects might have carcinogenic effects. Larvae of African silkworms (Anaphe venata) contain thiaminase, which can cause the seasonal ataxia syndrome, (Adamolekun 1993;

Adamolekun & Ibikunle, 1994). A nervous system depressant, Toluene, has been extracted from some insect products, too.

Eating of silkworms, crickets, wasps, grasshoppers and stink bugs can cause allergies (Belluco et al., 2013; Ribeiro et al., 2018) and even followed by asthma.

Trendy solution to poverty: Insects consumption should be done in a wise

and healthy manner. Edible insects have been a vital source of essential nutrients in many developing regions. Many people due to poor economic conditions cannot afford vegetables and domestic livestock and become malnourished. Their traditional foods are often deficient in proteins, vitamins and minerals. However, it is essential to provide these nutrients that are essential for infants and children and insects can be a cheap substitute for them. Meanwhile, some insects are traditional food for people in certain areas.

Products made from insects: Many people from developed areas feel uncomfortable with the appearance of insects and find it difficult to eat insects as food.Recently, street foods made from entomic components have been developed, which contain a mixture of crushed mealworms and flour. These products taste like insects but aredisplayed in the shape of snacks that people are familiar with (e.g., crisps) (Hartmann et al., 2018; Tan et al., 2015).Methods for enhancing the taste of insect products are being promoted to overcome the reluctance to entomophagy in the general population. Special emphasis should be madeon sustainability of these products.So, to benefit the ever-increasing population of the world, more research in this area is required.The insect-based products have emerging trend now-a-days. But, challenges such as the legislation and the regulation of the edible insects will always be associated with this sector,which cannot be solved at individual level.

Therefore,it is the needof the timefor stakeholders to work together to furthertheir common agenda, strengthen recognition for their activities and increase their bargaining power(FAO, 2013; Nongonierma & FitzGerald, 2017).

3 CONCLUSION

Problem of food security get worsened in developing countries due to increasing world population. Entomophagy or the eating of insects could be a possible solution due to their capability to satisfy 2 different requirements: (1) they are an important source of protein, fats, vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients; (ii) their use as food has great economic and environmental

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4 advantages over conventional food. The consumption of edible insects becoming popular now-a-days. Various modern products have been developed due to intensive studies on edible insects.

However, little is known on the food safety side and it is a matter of concern that the utilization of edible insects might bring health and safety issues. It can also require society’s approval, especially if people are not accustomed to eating insects. This paper aims to collect information in order to evaluate how insects could be safely used as food.

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