In the state of Tlaxcala, Mexico, the chicatana ant (Atta mexicana) and jumile (Edessa spp.) are foods that the population regularly consumes and are alternative sources of nutrients. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the proximal chemical composition (moisture, protein, lipids, ash and carbohydrates) and fatty acids (FA) in commercialised dehydrated chicatana ant and jumile using instrumental methods such as refractive index (RI) and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometer (GC-MS). Protein and lipids were predominant in chicatana ant and jumile (33.74% and 39.25%, and 32.00% and 39.00%, respectively). In insect oils, RI and GC-MS results demonstrated that chicatana ant oil contains a high saturated FA percentage (58.40%), with heneicosanoic acid (C21:0) being the predominant saturated FA (46.35%), while jumile oil presented a higher percentage of unsaturated acids (99.27%), with γ-linolenic acid being the predominant unsaturated FA (77.00%). Therefore, both insects are foods with important protein and FA percentage, with jumile containing a higher concentration of unsaturated FA, which is desirable in the diet.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.