The Nutritional Potency of Southern African Schistocerca Gregaria, Encosternum Delegorguei And Macrotermes Spp. For Food and Feed

The current study examined the chemical composition of four (4) African adult edible insects: Schistocerca gregaria (desert locust), Encosternum delegorguei (green stinkbug), Macrotermes falciger (soldier termite) and Macrotermes natalensis (winged termite). Fresh insects (1 000 g of each) were acquired, euthanised, processed and packaged into triplicates. Only M. natalensis were further exposed to oil extraction to produce by-products: winged termite meal (WTM) and winged termite oil (WTO). Hence, a total of six (6) insect samples were chemically and statistically evaluated for proximate, amino acid and fatty acid contents. S. gregaria (66.11%) and WTM (53.64%) had higher (P<0.05) crude protein than the other insect samples, respectively. Fats, crude fibre and NDF were more abundant (P<0.05) in E. delegorguei than other insect samples, whereas only WTM and M. natalensis had elevated ash content. A total of 16 amino acids (9 essential and 7 non-essential) and 30 fatty acids (15 SFA, 6 MUFA and 9 PUFA) were detected in selected insect samples. Although, S. gregaria and M. natalensis had more (P<0.05) essential amino acids (EAAs) than other insect meals, EAAs from all insect samples met the human protein requirements recommended by the WHO (2007). Leucine (2.32 to 5.67 g/100 g) was the most predominant (P<0.05) while methionine (0.38 to 1.03 g/100 g) was the least abundant (P<0.05) EEA across all insect meals. MUFA were predominantly higher (P<0.05) in E. delegorguei (59.53 g/100 g) and WTO (52.05 g/100 g), respectively, while PUFA (29.11 g/100 g) and omega 6 (n-6) fatty acids (26.92 g/100 g) concentration were higher (P<0.05) in M. falciger, but omega 3 (n-3) fatty acids (12.41 g/100 g) dominated in S. gregaria. In conclusion, the selected African insects could be utilised in human and livestock diets to supply protein, essential amino acids and fatty acids. Hence, their mass production could help improve the overall availability of conventional edible insects in the market.