Insect-based protein sources: Assessing nutritional contents and anti-nutritional factors

Highly nutritious insects are used as traditional food in many areas of the world including North-east India. Among the states of North-east India, people of Assam also consume insects as their traditional food or delicacy. The survey was conducted in rural areas of Nagaon district of Assam to investigate the local name, stage of consumption, period of consumption and mode of consumption of five selected edible insect species: Oecophylla smaragdina, Gryllotalpa africana, Mecopoda elongata, Lethocerus indicus, Vespa affinis. Determination of protein contents in five selected edible insects showed that they were rich in protein contents with highest amount of protein registered in Mecopoda elongata. The presence of some of the important anti-nutritional factors on edible insects and their effects on protein digestibility has also been analyzed in this article. It was observed that protein digestibility of most of the selected edible insect species was less which had more anti-nutritional contents. Maximum protein digestibility was registered in Vespa affinis with lowest contents of tannin and phytate whereas minimum protein digestibility was recorded in Mecopoda elongata with highest contents of tannin, phytate and oxalate.