Abstract
We compared nutrient compositions of honey bee (Apis mellifera) drones of different developmental stages from two different populations—the Italian honey bee reared in Korea and Buckfast bees from Denmark. Analyses included amino acid, fatty acid, and mineral content as well as evaluations of antioxidant properties and haemolysis activities. The compositions of total amino acids, and thus protein content of the insects, increased with development. A similar trend was observed for minerals presumably due to the consumption of food in the adult stage. In contrast, total fatty acid amounts decreased with development. Altogether, seventeen amino acids, including all the essential ones, except tryptophan, were determined. Saturated fatty acids dominated over monounsaturated fatty acids in the pupae, but the reverse held true for the adults. Drones were found to be rich in minerals and the particularly high iron as well as K/Na ratio was indicative of the nutritional value of these insects. Among the three developmental stages, adult Buckfast drones exhibited the highest antioxidant activity. Bearing in mind the overall high nutritional value, i.e., high amino acids, minerals and less fatty acids, late pupae and adult drones can be useful for human consumption while the larvae or early pupal stage can be recommended as feed. However, owing to their relatively high haemolysis activity, we advocate processing prior to the consumption of these insects.
Highlights
In the past few decades, following an earlier suggestion by Meyer-Rochow [1] to consider insects in combatting global nutritional impasses, insects have received significant attention as a potential sustainable food item for humans
Body weights of Italian honey bee drones were found to differ significant between pupae and adults, ranging from 0.34 to 0.27 g (ANOVA, p < 0.05) (Figure 1)
Drone brood can be recommended as an alternative and nutritious food item for humans as it contains almost all the essential amino acids needed by humans, as proposed by Ulmer et al [82]
Summary
In the past few decades, following an earlier suggestion by Meyer-Rochow [1] to consider insects in combatting global nutritional impasses, insects have received significant attention as a potential sustainable food item for humans. Scientific reports, possibly exaggerated, claim that almost 2 billion people eat insects regularly as a planned part of their diet [12], but the total number of insects considered edible around the. The domestication of insect species appears not to have been easy or much needed, judging by the small number of truly domesticated species like silkworms and honey bees. The nutritional as well as therapeutic value of honey has been appreciated and mentioned in ancient texts like Ayurveda, the Bible and the Quran. Royal jelly, bee pollen, propolis and bee venom are further significant products of bees and even the word “medicine” has its origin from the fermented honey known to Anglo-Saxon tribals as ‘mead’
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