Photo Credit: American Chemical Society
Maintaining a sustainable food source is an increasing
problem around the world. Food diversification that does not contribute to further damage
to ecosystems is a priority. Consumption of insects (entomophagy), has been the
focus of a recent study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food
Chemistry. Insects can provide protein comparable to meat and fish in human
diets, as well as provide fatty acids, vitamins and
minerals. Examination shows that iron levels from eating insects, can be higher than those found in
beef.
Researchers studied grasshopper, cricket, mealworms and buffalo
worms to analyze the potential benefits to human consumption.
You can read the
full study at:
Gladys O. Latunde-Dada, Wenge Yang, Mayra Vera Aviles. In
Vitro Iron Availability from Insects and Sirloin Beef. Journal of Agricultural
and Food Chemistry, 2016;
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.6b03286
There is a short overview also available at Science Daily here (photo taken from this blog)
