Nutritional characterization of fatty acids and minerals in Brachystola magna (Girard) during their development

Abstract

Due to the growing demand for food sources, it is increasingly common to opt for entomophagy, in addition to contributing to the control of grasshopper Brachystola magna (Girard) insect considered a harmful pest for agriculture in the regions where it lives. In this study, a nutritional characterization on the grasshopper B. magna in four different stages of its biological cycle (egg, nymph 3, nymph 4 and adult) was performed. In the adult stage, values of protein and lipid content of 64.7 and 8.2%, respectively, were obtained through proximal chemical analysis. For the determination of fatty acids and minerals the techniques of gas chromatography and atomic absorption spectroscopy were used. The results of fatty acids and minerals indicated a high content of both, unsaturated fatty acids of eighteen carbons, especially oleic, and the minerals K +1 , Mg +2 and Ca +2 with a relatively low presence of Na +1 due to its peculiar source of feed (bean). The results suggest that Brachystola magna (Girard) could be a potential source of consumption for healthy people and people with specific needs (people with cardiovascular problems of high protein requirements, such as caloric-protein malnutrition and bodybuilding).

The Effect of Substrate on the Nutrient Content and Fatty Acid Composition of Edible Insects

“…For example, the nutrient composition of BSF varies at different stages of the life cycle, and highest crude protein content has been found in postmortem adult stage and crude fat content in 14-day-old larvae, but unsaturated fat content started to decrease in seven-day-old larvae and older [ 41 ]. Brachystola magna (Girard) grasshoppers have been reported to have the highest contents of protein, fat, calcium, and magnesium in the adult stage, whereas iron and zinc concentrations are the highest in the nymph stage [ 42 ].…”

Fats and major fatty acids present in edible insects utilised as food and livestock feed

“…As reported by previous studies, fish, poultry, pork, beef and vegetable oils such as sunflower soybean, and palm are the most common food materials rich in fats and fatty acids ( Kuntadi et al., 2018 ; Monter-Miranda et al., 2018 ; Tang et al., 2019 ). However, poor communities in rural areas and smallholder livestock farmers have little or no access to food and by products that supplies essential oils.…”

“…Other studies also concluded that dried insects contain more fat content of up to 77 g/100g DM with large proportion of essential fatty acids ( Tao and Li, 2018 ; Mutungi et al., 2019 ). However, the accumulation of lipid and fatty acid contents in different insect species depends on a combination of factors such as species type, sex, reproduction stage, developmental stage, living temperature, season, feed substrates, geographical origin, and processing methods as well as biological factors including enzymatic activity ( Akullo et al., 2018 ; Monter-Miranda et al., 2018 ; Kim et al., 2019 ; Mutungi et al., 2019 ).…”

“…Nonetheless, the lipid fractions of all edible insects in Table 1 are highly dominated by UFAs with 16 and 18 carbons including α-linolenic and linoleic acid (PUFAs) ( Monter-Miranda et al., 2018 ), which, are some of the essential fatty acids required by human and livestock ( Kinyuru et al., 2013 ; 2015 ). Despite that, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) (C20:5) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (C22:6) remain the primary PUFA required for good health in humans ( Doberman et al 2017 ).…”

“…(2022) , a 15% dietary inclusion of black soldier fly meal improved MUFAs levels and but sightly lowered the PUFAs content of broiler chicken breast meat. Furthermore, the oil content extracted from insects could be directly supplemented in livestock diets to supply PUFAs which are unavailable in plant-based oil ingredients such as full fat soya and sunflower oil ( Longvah et al., 2011 ; Monter-Miranda et al., 2018 ). However, a high accumulation of fats in meat leads to lipid oxidation which results in an undesirable taste and colour and reduced shelf-life ( Kinyuru et al., 2015 ).…”