Protein is an important nutrient for growth and development of humans and its quality depends on the types and composition of its amino acids. The amino acid profile of dung beetle larva was determined and compared with those of catfish and crayfish by HPLC using Applied PTH Biosystem amino acid analyzer. The data obtained were analyzed with inferential statistics of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and means separated using LeastSignificance Difference (LSD). The results showed that there were significant differences in the samples for all the set criteria for amino acid quality: total amino acid (F = 219.9), percentage amino acid (F = 1095.4), 2, 6 2, 6 essential amino acid score (F = 2588.4), essential to non-essential amino acid ratio (F = 236.7) and predicted 2, 6 2, 6 protein efficiency ratio (F = 1049.4) all at P < 0.05. About 66.7% of the essential amino acids in dung beetle 2, 6larva satisfy human nutritional requirement while amino acids like tryptophan, histidine and threonine were significantly higher in dung beetle. The amino acid score of this insect was higher as it has the potential of over 100% protein synthesis as against 68.2% and 80.9% respectively for catfish and crayfish. Moreover, a consumption of 46 g of dung beetle larva can effectively satisfy the daily human amino acid requirement. The study concluded that the protein quality of insects especially dung beetle larva compared favorably with commonly consumed human protein diets like catfish and crayfish. Therefore entomophagy should be encouraged in the face of the present dwindling availability of animal protein food sources. Keywords: Amino acid score, Entomophagy, Protein energy malnutrition, Dung beetle

Lack of adequate animal proteins in human diets and its malnutrition consequences has led to advocacy for entomophagy. However, many edible insects are yet to be proven comparable to meat or fish. This study compared the nutritional quality of Pallid Emperor moth, Cirina forda and Atlantic mackerel, Scomber scombrus. Proximate and anti-nutrients quantities of the samples were determined using standard AOAC methods, mineral elements were measured using flame photometry and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy, while amino acid were determined by HPLC method. The data obtained were analyzed using t-test at P<0.05. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the quantity of crude protein (43.07% and 43.65%) of the two samples. The mineral elements in both samples were adequate for human consumption, though most of them showed significantly higher quantity in S. scombrus. However, C. forda had significantly higher total amino acids, essential to nonessential amino acid ratio, Predicted Protein Efficiency Ratio (P-PER), Amino Acid Score and Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Scores (PDCAAS). Moreover, about 77.8% of essential amino acids in C. forda satisfied the Recommended Daily Allowance for humans. The study showed that the nutritional quality of C. forda compared well with that of S. scombrus and therefore recommended for human consumption.

Diapause is a complex life history strategy aimed at tolerating or circumventing stress in insects. It is accompanied by alterations in the food reserve levels to cope with the energy demand of this life stage. In the pallid emperor moth (Cirina forda), little is known about the patterns of accumulation and utilization of food reserves before and during diapause, respectively. The accumulation and utilization of food reserves in the haemolymph and the whole body of diapause-destined larvae and diapausing pupae of Cirina forda were progressively compared using photometry and HPLC. The quantity of glucose, total carbohydrate, fats, protein, and amino acids measured were taken as indices of food reserve accumulation and utilization by the immature stages of the insect in this study. Data collated were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and the means were separated using Fisher's Least Significance Difference (LSD). The results showed progressive accumulation of glucose from 46.20 to 105.06 mg/100 g, total carbohydrates from 175.39 to 212.54 mg/100 g, lipids from 440.49 to 641.57 mg/100 g, and protein from 306.04 to 378.83 mg/100 g in the haemolymph of diapause-destined larvae. The reserves decreased progressively (72.1%, 60.3%, 5.7%, and 6.9%) in diapausing pupae. Total amino acids increased by 2.8%, while 61.1% of amino acids in the whole pupae increased significantly (P<0.05). The study concluded that C. forda accumulates food reserves in preparation for diapause, and reserves decline as they are probably utilized during diapause development.

Honey is sought globally for nutritional and therapeutic purposes because of the several chemical constituents that are abound in it. Some of these chemicals such as the anti-nutrients are defensive metabolic byproducts of plants from which bees obtained the nectars for honey production. This study was undertaken to determine the cyanide, oxalate, phytate, tannin and saponin compositions of honey samples from four North Central States of Nigeria. Anti-nutrients were analyzed following the Standards of Association of Official Analytical Chemists protocol for anti-nutrient compositions. Data obtained were compared using One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and the means were separated using Fischer’s Least Significance Difference (LSD). The results showed that cyanide, phytate and tannin were present in all the four honey samples while oxalate and saponin were only present in two of the honey samples, though at varying concentrations each of them. All anti-nutrient except cyanide are within tolerable limit for human consumption. There were significant differences (p<0.05) in each of the anti-nutrient’s concentrations across the honey samples. The study showed that location and geographical region significantly influence honey’s anti-nutrient compositions as well as their concentrations. Keywords: Honey, Anti-nutrients, Tannin, Saponin, Cyanide, Oxalate, Phytate.