Edible Insects: Future Food- Natural and Renewable Nutrients Resource

Ever heard of bug protein shake, earthworm noodles, tangy red ant eggs chutney, silkworm pupae pickle!!!

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Here comes the era of new ingredients and delicacies in the Indian food palate. Yes!!! Edible insects are coming through as “silver bullets” to combat the ever growing problems of Indian population, poverty, diminishing natural resources and health concerns. They are an important source of protein and other nutrients and have high feed conversion efficiency and ability to feed on diverse food sources. They are perceived as a cheapest and convenient source of available, highly portable, natural and renewable nutrients resource and has ecological advantages over conventional protein sources such as poultry and meat i.e. could help tackle climate change by substantially reducing emissions linked to livestock production. Entomophagy (Greek term: “entomos” meaning insects; and “phagein” means “to eat”) is the consumption of insects as food. It is practiced in many countries around the world but predominantly in parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Globally, there are more than 1000 edible insects, of which, a total of 255 edible insects were recorded in different parts of India. Among the ethnic people of India, the tribes of Arunachal Pradesh (about 158 species) far outnumber others in the edible insects taken as food. This is followed by Manipur, Assam and Nagaland (16 to 40 insect species). In Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, too, found evidence of six insect species being eaten. Globally, the most common insects consumed are beetles (Coleoptera), beside this, other groups of edible insects are 1) Lepidoptera - caterpillar 2) Hymenoptera