Dietary Modulation of Oxidative Stress From Edible Insects: A Mini-Review.

Veronica D'Antonio,Mauro Serafini,Natalia Battista

doi:10.3389/fnut.2021.642551

Abstract

Edible insects are proposed as a nutritious and environmentally sustainable alternative source to animal proteins, due to their numerous advantages in terms of reduced ecological impact and high nutritional value. However, the novelty for edible insects relies on the content of bioactive ingredients potentially able to induce a functional effect in the body. The present review summarizes the main findings on the antioxidant properties of edible insects available in the literature. A total of 30 studies involving animals, cell cultures, or in vitro experimental studies evaluating the antioxidant effect of edible insects are presented in this work. When the antioxidant activity was investigated, using a wide variety of in vitro tests and in cellular models, positive results were shown. Dietary supplementation with edible insects was also able to counteract dietary oxidative stress in animal models, restoring the balance of antioxidant enzymes and reducing the formation of oxidation damage markers. On the basis of the reviewed evidences, edible insects might represent a source of novel redox ingredients at low ecological impact able to modulate oxidative stress. However, due to the fact that majority of these evidences have been obtained in vitro and in cellular and animal models, dietary intervention trials are needed to assess the efficacy of edible insect consumption to modulate redox status in humans.

Highlights

Entomophagy, the practice of eating insects and invertebrates, has been part of human history for centuries, playing a significant role in cultural and religious practices
In order to understand if edible insects might play a role in the dietary modulation of oxidative stress, in this mini-review, we aim to summarize the available evidences regarding the antioxidant role of edible insects and invertebrates in in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo models
According to the results obtained in a cell-free system (18), the aqueous extract of V. affinis was able to increase the activity of both glutathione S-transferase (GST) and CAT and to reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS) in THP-1 human monocytes and human plasma

Summary

Introduction

Entomophagy, the practice of eating insects and invertebrates, has been part of human history for centuries, playing a significant role in cultural and religious practices. In terms of ecological impact, edible insects are characterized by a negligible greenhouse gas (GHG) emission as well as water and ecological footprints, meeting the population’s need for a more sustainable protein supply. In this view, Onnincx et al (2) have described lower NH3 emission level, higher average daily gain, and a comparable or lower CO2 (g/kg mass gain) production of insects, which result in a higher feed conversion efficiency, with respect to conventional livestock. The fossil energy needed to mealworms rearing is comparable to or higher than conventional food sources such as milk or different meats, these insects produce reduced GHG—one of the main factors inducing climate changes—and the space required for their rearing is much lower than conventional livestock (3).

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