Entomophagy is an ancient and actually African tradition that has been receiving renewed attention since edible insects have been identified as one of the solutions to improve global nutrition. As any other foodstuff, insects should be regulated by the government to ensure product quality and consumer safety. The goal of the present paper was to assess the current legal status of edible insects in Africa. For that, corresponding authorities were contacted along with an extensive online search, relying mostly on the FAOLEX database. Except for Botswana, insects are not mentioned in national regulations, although the definitions for "foodstuff" allow their inclusion, i.e., general food law can also apply to insects. Contacted authorities tolerated entomophagy, even though no legal base existed. However, insects typically appear in laws pertaining the use of natural resources, making a permit necessary (in most cases). Pest management regulation can also refer to edible species, e.g., locusts or weevils. Farming is an option that should be assessed carefully. All this creates a complex, nation-specific situation regarding which insect may be used legally to what purpose. Recommendations for elements in future insect-related regulations from the food hygiene point of view are provided.Foods 2020, 9, 502 2 of 43 after the classical antiquity, the tradition lingered on in Africa. There are hundreds of insect species consumed in Africa as foodstuffs or as traditional medicine [1][2][3][4][5][6]. The awareness of the benefits of edible insects has also reached non-traditional sectors of the African population, and web-based information sites like LINCAOCNET (http://gbif.africamuseum.be/lincaocnet_dev/) provide searchable information on local species.Insects are traded in a relatively small to medium level. The economic benefit varies with the species and is seldom accounted for, but one of the most significant ones seems to be the phane caterpillars of a saturniid emperor moth Gonimbrasia belina (ex "Imbrasia belina"), reaching a yearly trade value of more than $85 million in Southern Africa.Like with any other foodstuff, the consumption of edible insects may lead to consumer risks, typically allergens, foodborne diseases, food spoilage agents, and contaminants [7]. Being so, the tradition has developed a set of dos and do nots to ensure food safety to a certain degree. However, as traditions develop over long periods of time and tend to become inflexible, some parts of it may not cover "modern" risks like environmental pollution, or even packaging [3]. In fact, the traditional handling of African insect-based products has become submitted to scientific research, and results show that even processed products may contain pathogens. By means of illustration (and far beyond completeness of data), Table 1 provides a look into the microbiology of fresh and processed products from three African insect species. SpeciesProduct Acinetobacter spp. Bacillus spp. Corynebacterium spp.Enterobacter spp. Enterobacter FaecalisEscherichia...
Concerning human and environmental health, safe alternatives to synthetic pesticides are urgently needed. Many of the currently used synthetic pesticides are not authorized for application in organic agriculture. In addition, the developed resistances of various pests against classical pesticides necessitate the urgent demand for efficient and safe products with novel modes of action. Botanical pesticides are assumed to be effective against various crop pests, and they are easily biodegradable and available in high quantities and at a reasonable cost. Many of them may act by diverse yet unexplored mechanisms of action. It is therefore surprising that only few plant species have been developed for commercial usage as biopesticides. This article reviews the status of botanical pesticides, especially in Europe and Mediterranean countries, deepening their active principles and mechanisms of action. Moreover, some constraints and challenges in the development of novel biopesticides are highlighted.
An increasing human population necessitates more food production, yet current techniques in agriculture, such as chemical pesticide use, have negative impacts on the ecosystems and strong public opposition. Alternatives to synthetic pesticides should be safe for humans, the environment, and be sustainable. Extremely diverse ecological niches and millions of years of competition have shaped the genomes of algae to produce a myriad of substances that may serve humans in various biotechnological areas. Among the thousands of described algal species, only a small number have been investigated for valuable metabolites, yet these revealed the potential of algal metabolites as bio-pesticides. This review focuses on macroalgae and microalgae (including cyanobacteria) and their extracts or purified compounds, that have proven to be effective antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, nematocides, insecticides, herbicides, and plant growth stimulants. Moreover, the mechanisms of action of the majority of these metabolites against plant pests are thoroughly discussed. The available information demonstrated herbicidal activities via inhibition of photosynthesis, antimicrobial activities via induction of plant defense responses, inhibition of quorum sensing and blocking virus entry, and insecticidal activities via neurotoxicity. The discovery of antimetabolites also seems to hold great potential as one recent example showed antimicrobial and herbicidal properties. Algae, especially microalgae, represent a vast untapped resource for discovering novel and safe biopesticide compounds.
For almost a decade, edible insects have become promoted on a wider basis as one way to combat world hunger and malnourishment, although attempts to do so have a longer history. Contemporary researchers and consumers, particularly those without an entomophagous background, have been rising safety and sustainability concerns. The present contribution seeks a substantiated answer to the question posed above. The possible answer consists of different factors that have been taken into consideration. First, the species and its life cycle. It is mandatory to realize that what is labeled as “edible insects” stands for more than 2,140 animal species, not counting other edible, non-crustacean arthropods. Their life cycles are as diverse as the ecological niches these animals can fill and last between some days to several years and many of them may—or may not—be reproduced in the different farming systems. Second, the level of knowledge concerning the food use of a given species is important, be it traditional, newly created by research, or a combination of both. Third, the existence of a traditional method of making the use of the insect safe and sustainable, ideally from both the traditional and the modern points of view. Fourth, the degree of effectiveness of these measures despite globalization changes in the food-supplying network. Fifth, farming conditions, particularly housing, feeding (type, composition, and contaminants), animal health and animal welfare. Sixth, processing, transport, and storage conditions of both traditional and novel insect-based foodstuffs, and seventh, consumer awareness and acceptance of these products. These main variables create a complex web of possibilities, just as with other foodstuffs that are either harvested from the wild or farmed. In this way, food safety may be reached when proper hygiene protocols are observed (which usually include heating steps) and the animals do not contain chemical residues or environment contaminants. A varying degree of sustainability can be achieved if the aforementioned variables are heeded. Hence, the question if insects can be safe and sustainable can be answered with “jein,” a German portmanteau word joining “yes” (“ja”) and “no” (“nein”).
SUMMARYPlants are the nature's biochemical factories. They bio-synthesize a diverse array of different natural products, such as alkaloids, terpenes and terpenoids, phenolic compounds, flavonoids and coumarins through their structural mechanisms to reduce insect attacks, both constitutive and inducible, while insects have evolved strategies to overcome these plant defenses.There is a widespread effort to find new pesticides, and currently it is focused on natural compounds such as flavonoids, coumarins, terpenoids, and phenolics from diverse botanical families from arid and semi-arid lands. Algeria by the diversity of its habitats has a very diverse flora. Some of these plants have very interesting insecticidal properties. The aim of this study is to evaluate the insecticidal effect of the plant Artemisia judaica L. (Asteraceae). The crude ethanol extract of the plant A. judaica was tested on the black bean aphid Aphis fabae Scop. Four doses (12.5, 6.25, 3.12 and 1.56 mg mL -1 ) were tested on contact wingless adults. The results have showed that the tested extract has been very powerful to aphids. At the highest dose 12.5 mgmL -1 , the 100% of mortality were recorded 2 hours after treatment, and for the lowest dose (1.56 mgmL -1 ) it was after 96 hours. The LD50 calculated 2 hours after treatment from the regression lines Probit = ƒ (doses) shows that it is 2.75 mgmL -1 . This powerful insecticidal activity of the tested crude extract could be due to the richness of the plant on phenolics compounds known for their bio-insecticide action.
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