Recently, attention has been drawn to the fact that increasing the consumption of edible insects may positively impact the state of the natural environment and reduce the problem of malnutrition in large parts of society. Indeed, insects are seen as an alternative to traditional meat products, primarily meat. This article aimed to compare the nutritional value of edible insects and meat. Based on tables of composition and nutritional value and on the licensed computer program Diet 6D, data on the nutritional value of 10 commonly consumed meat types were compiled. Based on a literature review, data on the nutritional value of seven commercially available edible insect species were collected and collated. There was a comparison of 100 g of edible insects with 100 g of meat (fresh weight). In addition, the atherogenic index thrombogenic index, the hypocholesterolemic/hypercholesterolemic ratio, and the nutritional quality index were calculated. It was found that both meat and insects are rich in nutrients, including those considered essential for the proper development and functioning of the human body. At the same time, it has been shown that the content of individual nutrients in both insects and meat varies significantly.

Based on high nutritional value and low production costs, edible insects are an excellent and sustainable source of animal proteins. However, completely replacing meat with edible insects requires a change in consumer mentality not only in Poland, but also in other European countries. In western countries, most people reject eating insects, mainly for cultural reasons. Concerning this, the objective of the study was to examine the knowledge, behavior, and attitudes of the Polish community about edible insects and to understand the main factors driving edible insect consumption. The study was held at the Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, Poland and consisted of two parts: The survey (among 464 students) and the tasting session (among 402 participants). The main findings suggest that there is low willingness to adopt edible insects as a meat substitute among Polish students due to the psychological barriers, such as neophobia and disgust. However, the willingness to eat processed insect food (bread, biscuit) is far higher than for unprocessed whole insects. Environmental benefits are the factors that least affected students’ willingness to try edible insects. Additionally, the tasting session of the bread with powdered insects was attended by the vast majority of participants, which indicates that a positive sensory experience can improve the acceptability of insects as food.

The aim of the study was to compare the chemical and amino acid composition of breast (pectoralis major) and thigh (biceps femoris) muscles in 17-wk-old geese from 2 Polish conservative flocks: Rypińska (Ry, n = 20) and Garbonosa (Ga, n = 20). The geese were fed ad libitum during the experimental period on the same complete feed. Genotypes affected the moisture and fat content of breast and thigh meat. The Ga geese were characterized by higher moisture as well as lower fat lipid content compared with the Ry breast and thigh muscles. The amino acid proportions of meat proteins depended on the goose flock and type of muscles, where significant differences were found. The proteins of Ga breast muscles contained more glutamic acid, glycine, lysine, tryptophan, histidine, and methionine, and less aspartic acid, proline, serine, leucine, valine, phenyloalanine, tyrosine, and threonine than the Ry geese (P ≤ 0.05). The proteins of Ry thigh muscles were characterized by higher content of proline, serine, and essential amino acids (without lysine and methionine) and lower glutamic and asparagine acid, alanine, and glycine compared with the Ga flock. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations/World Health Organization (1991) standard, tryptophan was the amino acid limiting the nutritional value of meat proteins of Ry breast muscles (amino acid score for tryptophan = 90%). Except for tryptophan, the meat proteins of the investigated raw materials contained more essential amino acids than the standard. The total content of essential amino acids for all investigated muscles was also higher (52.51 to 55.54%) than the standard (33.90%). It is evident that muscle protein from both flocks of geese have been characterized by high nutritional value. The values of the essential amino acid index of breast muscle proteins were similar in both flocks.

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