Abstract
The systematic investigations on the value of social wasps as a food resource are deficient, in spite of the long history of the utilization of social wasps as food and pharmaceutical bioresources. Vespa velutina nigrithorax is an invasive alien wasp species that is currently dominating in East Asia and Europe, bringing huge economic damages. As a control over alien species is made when the valuable utilization of the invasive species as a potential resource are discovered, investigations on the potential of V. v. nigrithorax as a useful bioresource are also in demand. Nutritional and heavy metal analyses of the larvae revealed their balanced and rich nutritional value and safety as a food resource. The larval saliva amino acid composition was investigated for further study on amino acid supplementation and exercise enhancement.
Highlights
Social wasps are recognized as harmful insects
Mandarinia, but an amino acid mixture composed of the same amino acid composition of V. mandarinia larval saliva
The products were developed on the basis of a series of investigations on exercise endurance enhancement effects by supplementation of the amino acid mixture of which the composition is the same as the larval saliva of V. mandarinia [25,26,27]
Summary
Social wasps are recognized as harmful insects. They are a threat to humans due to their stinging behaviors that might lead to death [1,2] and their aggressive nature to hunt for honeybees brings huge economic losses in the beekeeping industry [1,3,4]. Nests of social wasps (Nidus vespae) have been used as an ingredient of crude drugs [5,6], or an ingredient of health-promoting traditional liquors [5]. The entomophagic records about wasps are mostly related to consumption of larvae, which are available in Papua New Guinea [7], China [8].
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