Prospects of entomophagy as a nutrition rich reservoir

Edible insects come in a wide variety of species, including Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Orthoptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Isoptera, Diptera, and Odonata. In addition, being higher in protein, lipids, vitamins, minerals, and fiber than other animal and plant-based food sources, they are consumed for their numerous nutraceutical benefits. Also, essential amino acids are abundant in edible insects. They are also the part of diet in northeast India with 255 different species. Some consumers find it difficult to accept insects as a whole, hence the market offers a variety of insect-based products like insect cookies, insect flour, insect protein bars, etc. for those consumers. Different categories of edible insects have been described in detail alongwith various techniques for extraction of nutrients from edible insects. Additionally, different varieties of edible insect-based products and their current market status has also been highlighted.