Effects of diet on the nutritional composition of the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

Abstract

The desert locusts, Schistocerca gregaria have a great history of being used as food. They are rich in proteins, minerals, fibre, and fats. An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of diet on the nutritional composition of desert locusts. They received a diet of wheatgrass, sorghum grass, and green gram leaves respectively. Proximate and mineral composition of mature locusts and feed plants was done using standard methods. The data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using a general linear model procedure. Moisture content was significantly higher in locusts reared on the sorghum diet (35.1%) and lowest in the green grams diet (12.9%). Locust reared on green gram diet recorded high protein, fat, and fibre compared to sorghum and wheat diet. Locusts reared on a wheatgrass diet recorded a significantly high amount of carbohydrate (14.3%) and ash (3.20%) compared to sorghum and green gram diet. The highest calculated energy was in locust reared on the green gram diet (2184.95KJ/g) while locust reared on the sorghum diet recorded the least energy 1391KJ/g. Magnesium and Calcium minerals were higher in all the locusts reared on the three diets. The mean values for Phosphorus were significantly lower followed by Copper in all the tested locusts. Locust reared on sorghum leaves recorded a significantly high amount of Potassium. The findings revealed that locusts are highly nutritive and can be reared on locally available feeds and can therefore play a major role in the food and nutritional security of people.