Unravelling the potential of insects for medicinal purposes – A comprehensive review

Siddiqui, Shahida Anusha; Li, Chujun; Aidoo, Owusu Fordjour; Fernando, Ito; Haddad, Moawiya A.; Blinov, Andrey Vladimirovich; Golik, Andrey; Câmara, José S.

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15938

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 262 publications

(327 reference statements)

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“…Insects are a rich source of both macronutrients and micronutrients, providing broad nutritional value. In addition, some bioactive compounds of insects also exhibit the potential to similarly benefit the consumer's health showing antioxidant, antidiabetic/hypoglycemic, antiobesity, antiatherosclerotic and antilipemic/hypolipidemic, antihypertensive, gut microbiota regulation, immunological, antibacterial, and antithrombotic functions (Pyo et al, 2020;Mendoza-Salazar et al, 2021;Nino et al, 2021a;Siddiqui et al, 2023). The bioactive substances in insects include proteins/peptides, terpenoids, polyphenols, glycosides, antioxidants, sulfur compounds, chitin/chitosan, and others (Chantawannakul, 2020;Nino et al, 2021b;Song et al, 2022).…”

Section: Nutraceutical and Pharmaceutical Properties Of A Domesticus ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Acheta domesticus (house cricket) as human foods ‐ An approval of the European Commission ‐ A systematic review

Siddiqui,

Zhao,

Fitriani

et al. 2024

Food Frontiers

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Entomophagy (consumption of insects) has been proposed as one of the important solutions to the food crisis caused by population growth. Despite a long history of insect consumption, numerous challenges have arisen that question the feasibility of using insects as a food source. It should be notifying that Acheta domesticus (house cricket) is recently approved by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/188 as a novel food ingredient. Gaining a comprehensive understanding of the house cricket is paramount for fostering a proper appreciation of its potential as a food source. This review aims to provide comprehensive and in‐depth information on the house cricket, covering various aspects such as its consumption, bioecology, nutritional value, health benefits, harvesting and rearing, and processing methods for use as a food source. Additionally, the consumer acceptance of house cricket will be discussed and specific information on why it has gained approval in the European Union will also be provided. The consumption of crickets has a long history as both food and feed. They are environmentally friendly to rear, making them an attractive option for human consumption. House cricket, in particular, holds promise as a sustainable alternative to traditional farming and conventional food sources due to its nutritional and pharmaceutical properties. Different processing methods enhance its potential. However, there are challenges regarding public acceptance, which can be overcome through diverse processing techniques and applications. Further research and efforts are needed to expand the acceptance and application of A. domesticus.

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Section: Nutraceutical and Pharmaceutical Properties Of A Domesticus ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Acheta domesticus (house cricket) as human foods ‐ An approval of the European Commission ‐ A systematic review

Siddiqui,

Zhao,

Fitriani

et al. 2024

Food Frontiers

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“…Highly unsaturated fatty acid (HUFA) concentration in aquatic insects (odonatan larvae) is greater than in terrestrial insects, particularly the EPA level, since they eat diatoms and freshwater algae, which are particularly abundant in HUFA and EPA (Zhao et al, 2021). them as therapeutic agents (Siddiqui et al, 2023). Earlier, people have used insects as medicine, and now researchers are looking into them and attempting to find new uses for their natural components (Bairagi, 2019).…”

Section: Vitamins and Mineralsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Siddiqui,

Asante,

Ngah

et al. 2024

J. Insects Food Feed

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The rapid growth of the human population leads to a big concern about the food y and demand worldwide. However, due to the reduction in global arable land area, humans need to find alternative food sources to fulfil their needs. Consequently, edible insects have been identified as a promising solution to ameliorate food security and increase global nutrition. Among more than 2,100 identified edible insect species, dragonflies and damselflies (order Odonata) are considered as one of nutritious food resources. Nevertheless, detailed information on the frequency and distribution of consumption of odonatans around the world is scattered and poorly documented. Based on this review, at least 61 out of 1,964 species of odonatans were reported consumed by people worldwide. The most consumed dragonflies (suborder Epiprocta; infraorder Anisoptera) are from the family of Libellulidae, followed by Aeshnidae and Gomphidae, whereas the most consumed edible damselflies (suborder Zygoptera) are from the Coenagrionidae family. Many nutrients, including proteins, lipids, energy, fibre, vitamins, and minerals are abundant in edible odonatans. Moreover, studies reported that humans employed these insects as therapeutic agents to remedy various ailments. Challenges associated with the consumption of edible odonatans include safety concerns, legal frameworks, and limited information on their bioecology which become barrier for their successful mass-rearing. However, because entomophagy is gradually gaining recognition, new and more improved methods of rearing are now being developed including for edible odonatans, encouraging sustainable insect farming. As the world strives to achieve the sustainable development goals, insect farming will pave a way for resources to be utilised for sustainable economic development.

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“…It is remarkable that several species of Camponotus such as Camponotus maculatus and Camponotus pennsylvanicus have been employed as traditional remedy in Burkina Faso, West Africa and India (Mazurkiewicz et al, 2016;Schrader et al, 2016;Salyer, 2018;Buczkowski, 2019;Ouango et al, 2022;Siddiqui et al, 2023b), whereas, Camponotus inflatus is consumed by Aboriginal Australian in Australia as part of their diet for the source of natural sugar. They mix the ants with salads which is responsible for sweet sour flavour in their dish (Faast and Weinstein, 2020;Islam et al, 2022;Dong et al, 2023).…”

Section: Records Of Consumption and Consumer Acceptance Of Edible Bla...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Edible black ant Smith (Carebara vidua) as human food – A systematic review

Siddiqui,

Ho,

Adimulam

et al. 2024

J. Insects Food Feed

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Meeting food security is one of the major global challenges to ensure sufficient supply of food for current and future generations, considering increasing population growth and climate change issues. Consequently, the consumption of edible insects as an alternative food source has recently gained global attention for combating global food insecurity. The present review aims to provide information on the recent progress in consumption of edible black ant Smith, particularly Carebara vidua, as the main focus. The global consumption record of edible black ant Smith and consumer acceptance as well as the strategies used to increase consumer acceptance of eating edible black ant smith were proposed. In addition, the bioecology of black ant Smith was covered in this review. Further, details are provided in this review on the benefits to health, economy, and environment of practicing eating edible insects such as black ant Smith. Focus on the potential uses of Carebara vidua as a food ingredient in culinary cuisine and their safety concerns from rearing until processing were highlighted. The SCOPUS database was analysed using bibliometric software to understand the connections between recent scientific outputs and ant as human food thoroughly. BioRender software was used to create scientific figures. It is noteworthy to highlight that black ant smith contains high protein and micronutrient, especially iron and zinc are higher than that of plant-, animal-based food, and seafood that contribute significantly to meeting the daily protein and mineral intake amount for human. Moreover, the exhibition of antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of edible black ant smith suggests that it can be used as a future functional ingredients for food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics purposes. Hence, edible black ant smith is promising as an alternative and potential source of food or medicine for sustainable food security.

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Unravelling the potential of insects for medicinal purposes – A comprehensive review

Cited by 12 publications

References 262 publications

Acheta domesticus (house cricket) as human foods ‐ An approval of the European Commission ‐ A systematic review

Acheta domesticus (house cricket) as human foods ‐ An approval of the European Commission ‐ A systematic review

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

Edible black ant Smith (Carebara vidua) as human food – A systematic review

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