Nutritional compositions of some edible crickets from Nigeria

• Published in: International journal of tropical insect science 2024-08, Vol.44 (4), p.1899-1907
• Main Authors: Eze, Emmanuel Ikechukwu, Onah, Ikechukwu Eugene, Ugwu, Blessing Nkemdilim, Ugwuanyi, Nnenna Florence
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Asia; Biomedical and Life Sciences; calcium; crude protein; Entomology; entomophagy; face; Gryllus bimaculatus; insects; Life Sciences; magnesium; malnutrition; methionine; Nigeria; nutrient content; nutrition; Original Research Article; phosphorus; Teleogryllus commodus; tryptophan; valine
• ISSN: 1742-7592; 1742-7592
• DOI: 10.1007/s42690-024-01286-6

More than one billion people face malnourishment worldwide and majority of them are from Asia and Africa. The nutrition insecurity challenges in the third world countries could be addressed by considering entomophagy as an alternative to increase nutritional intake and meet the increasing nutrient demands of growing populations. Crickets are the most consumed orthopteran in the world and are good sources of protein and other essential nutrients. This study was conducted to identify the edible crickets and their nutritional composition in two regions of Nigeria. The edible crickets found in the study areas are Brachytrupes membranaceus Drury 1770, Gryllus bimaculatus De Geer 1773, Teleogryllus commodus Walker 1869, Teleogryllus sp. and Scapsipedus icipe Hugel and Tanga 2018. The values of moisture in the crickets ranged from 66.34 g/100 g in Teleogryllus sp. to 76.79 g/100 g in B. membranaceus . The ash in the crickets ranged from 0.63 g/100 g in B. membranaceus to 2.35 g/100 g in G. bimaculatus . The crude protein in the crickets ranged from 16.34 g/100 g in S. icipe to 23.38 g/100 g in T. commodus . The crude protein was significantly higher in T. commodus when compared with the other crickets ( p