Abstract
Insects are highly efficient source of protein for humans, either through a direct consumption or as food supplements for many nations have already been using it. The high protein content is an indication that the insects can be of value in man and animal ration and can eventually replace higher animal protein usually absent in the diet of rural dwellers in developing countries. The protein content differs by species of insects, but generally is of a good quality and high digestibility. This review sheds a limelight on the prospect use of insects as an alternative source of human protein and medicine. However, the West refuses entomophagy as disgusting, businesses, industry, governments, and research will be positively impacted once the eating of insects is widely accepted. Replacing vertebrate livestock-derived foods and food ingredients with those derived from insects will also substantially improve the health of the earth’s natural environment. In this respect, the review explain the latest information on nutritional contents and supplements, insect as animal feed, efficiency, health value and insects as the future prospect of human meat.
Highlights
The utilization of insects as a sustainable and secure source of animal-based food for the human diet has continued to increase in popularity in recent years [1]
House crickets (Achetadomesticus L.) have an “efficiency of conversion of ingested food (ECI) that is twice that of pigs and chickens, 4 times that of sheep and 6 times that of steer” [2]. This efficiency can lead to less usage of pesticides on animal feed, providing additional environmental, health, and economic incentives. In addition to their highly efficient feed conversion ratios and diet variability, insect fecundity, rapid growth rates, and short life cycles add to the greater efficiency with which they can be produced as a human food ingredient compared with vertebrate livestock [2]
The results indicate the need for thorough heat treatment for detoxification of the African silkworm, making the worm a safe source of high quality protein [40]
Summary
The utilization of insects as a sustainable and secure source of animal-based food for the human diet has continued to increase in popularity in recent years [1]. By all accounts, which include archeological evidence as well as analysis of fossilized feces, humankind has evolved as an entomophagous species [3]. Throughout the world, a large portion of the human population consumes insects as a regular part of their diet. Thousands of edible species have been identified [6]. In regions of the world where Western cultures dominate, such as North America and Europe, and in developing countries heavily influenced by Western culture, mass media have negatively influenced the public’s perception of insects by creating or reinforcing fears and phobias [3]. The emergence of insect is at all levels, in every sector of food science and medicine. Corresponding author E-mail address: Adewuyi et al / GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences 2019, 09(01), 039–045
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