Insects as Food

Julie Posseltová

Bachelor's thesis

Abstract:

Dietary change is considered a global imperative because current food systems are a major cause of climate change, land-use change, depletion of freshwater resources, and pollution of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The aim of this work is a systematic review of literature, covering various aspects of insect consumption: species, nutritional profiles, farming, production, processing, food safety, ecological, social and economic approach and future prospect. The thesis was made on the basis of primary and secondary sources retrieved from online scientific databases and libraries. Insect farming provides employment and has the potential to reduce hunger. Insects have significantly lower greenhouse gas production than conventional livestock. It has a short life cycle and require little space and water to breed. The most common insects consumed are beetles, followed by caterpillars, ants, bees, wasps, grasshoppers and true bugs. Due to their high in protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals and lower fat content, insects can fully replace meat from conventional farming in terms of nutritional composition. Approximately 92 % of edible insects are collected from the wild. That could be a threat of species extinction due to uncontrolled collection. Either semi-domestication or farming, is more sustainable. Semi-domestication enables partial control over reproduction, mortality or space use. Farming consists of creating a habitat for a particular species of insect with the ideal conditions for reproduction. In insect consumption, there is a risk of contamination with pathogens, the risk of chemical pollution or allergies. These risks are controlled within the framework of food safety. As part of the work, a comprehensive review providing information on the consumption of edible insects was developed. The bachelor thesis provides the basis for the creation of a more detailed overview for individual insect species and their developmental stages.

Keywords

Food safety, Entomophagy, Insect protein, Edible insects

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 15. 4. 2022

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Ing. Klára Urbanová, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Bachelor programme / field:
Tropical Agriculture / International Cooperation in Agriculture and Rural Development