Nutritional Composition, Health Benefits, and Application Value of Edible Insects: A Review

Abstract

For thousands of years, edible insects have been used as food to alleviate hunger and improve malnutrition. Some insects have also been used as medicines because of their therapeutic properties. This is not only due to the high nutritional value of edible insects, but more importantly, the active substances from edible insects have a variety of biofunctional activities. In this paper, we described and summarized the nutritional composition of edible insects and discussed the biological functions of edible insects and their potential benefits for human health. A summary analysis of the findings for each active function confirms that edible insects have the potential to develop functional foods and medicines that are beneficial to humans. In addition, we analyzed the issues that need to be considered in the application of edible insects and the current status of edible insects in food and pharmaceutical applications. We concluded with a discussion of regulations related to edible insects and an outlook on future research and applications of edible insects. By analyzing the current state of research on edible insects, we aim to raise awareness of the use of edible insects to improve human health and thus promote their better use and development.

Edible dragonflies and damselflies (order Odonata) as human food – A comprehensive review

“…Hence, intake of edible insects along with their preservation can improve health and the environ-ment as a whole and promote long-term usage of this valuable bioresource (Mozhui et al, 2020). Eating edible insects is healthier, tastier, sustainable, and ecologically friendly when compared to eating other types of food (Zhou et al, 2022). The orders of insects that are most often consumed globally include Blattodea (cockroaches and termites), Coleoptera (beetles), Diptera (flies), Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies), Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets and locusts), Hemiptera (true bugs), Hymenoptera (bees, ants, and wasps), Lepidoptera (butterflies, caterpillars and moths), and Mantodea (mantis) (Ordoñez-Araque et al, 2022;Zhou et al, 2022).…”

“…Eating edible insects is healthier, tastier, sustainable, and ecologically friendly when compared to eating other types of food (Zhou et al, 2022). The orders of insects that are most often consumed globally include Blattodea (cockroaches and termites), Coleoptera (beetles), Diptera (flies), Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies), Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets and locusts), Hemiptera (true bugs), Hymenoptera (bees, ants, and wasps), Lepidoptera (butterflies, caterpillars and moths), and Mantodea (mantis) (Ordoñez-Araque et al, 2022;Zhou et al, 2022). According to studies, dragonflies and damselflies are consumed worldwide in northern Italy (Fontaneto et al, 2011), India (Mozhui et al, 2020), China (Feng et al, 2018), Thailand (Maneechan and Prommi, 2021), Indonesia, Venezuela, Japan, Ecuador, Mexico, Madagascar, Myanmar, Vietnam, USA and South Korea (Fontaneto et al, 2011).…”

“…Table 1 shows the proximate composition of different species of dragonflies and damselflies. Protein is a necessary component of human health that gives the body energy when it is required (Zhou et al, 2022). One factor that makes edible insects a viable substitute for traditional animal-based sources is their high protein content.…”

“…The body receives a lot of energy and necessary fatty acids from insects' lipids. Insects can have up to 50% of fat to their dry weight (Ordoñez- Zhou et al, 2022). Insect lipids contain mostly cholesterol and phospholipids, with around 80% of their total lipid content made up of fatty acids (Ordoñez-Araque et al, 2022).…”

Hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic properties of oil derived from Agrius convolvuli

“…There are more than 1900 species of edible insects in the world, and eating more insects is of great benefit to the body (Donatella et al 2023). Edible insects have many advantages, such as fast reproduction, low pollution, high levels of protein, fat and minerals, and require relatively little feed (Zhou et al 2022). More than 2 billion people in the world use insects as a supplementary food (Florença et al 2022).…”