S. Siddiqui, N. Ngah, A. Eddy-Doh, I. Ucak, M. Afreen, I. Fernando, S. Singh, M.A. Shah, S.N. Povetkin, R. Castro‐Muñoz
{"title":"Edible Lepidoptera as human foods – a comprehensive review","authors":"S. Siddiqui, N. Ngah, A. Eddy-Doh, I. Ucak, M. Afreen, I. Fernando, S. Singh, M.A. Shah, S.N. Povetkin, R. Castro‐Muñoz","doi":"10.1163/23524588-20230072","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/23524588-20230072","url":null,"abstract":"As the global population continues to grow, traditional protein sources like meat and fish are becoming increasingly unsustainable due to their environmental impact. Edible insects, on the other hand, are highly nutritious, require minimal resources to produce, and emit significantly fewer greenhouse gases than traditional livestock. Lepidoptera, one of the most diverse insect orders, contains some popular edible species that have been consumed traditionally for centuries across the globe. Based on this review, about 24 families with a total of about 350 edible lepidopteran species were recorded. They are often praised for their excellent nutritional value, such as having high protein and healthy fat content. Edible lepidopterans also contain minerals, essential amino acids, and vitamins, making them a nutritious addition to a balanced diet. They also contain bioactive compounds which have various nutraceutical and pharmaceutical properties. Furthermore, some edible lepidopterans can be farmed and require minimal space and resources. However, there are significant challenges associated with their use as food. One of the primary challenges is the lack of regulations governing their production and distribution, which creates uncertainty for consumers and businesses alike. Consumer acceptance is also a significant barrier to the widespread adoption of insects as food. To overcome these challenges, there is a need for clear regulations that ensure the safety and quality of insect-based products. Furthermore, it is important to raise awareness about the nutritional and environmental benefits of edible insects as sustainable food for the future to promote their acceptance among consumers.","PeriodicalId":48604,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Insects as Food and Feed","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2023-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139338621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"In vitro nutrient digestibility values of black soldier fly as a swine feed ingredient can be estimated by nitrogen concentrations","authors":"H. Kim, S.Y. Ji, B.G. Kim","doi":"10.1163/23524588-20230050","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/23524588-20230050","url":null,"abstract":"The objectives were to determine effects of growth stages (experiment 1) of black soldier fly (BSF; Hermetia illucens) and processing methods (experiment 2) on in vitro nutrient digestibility of BSF for pigs and to develop prediction equations for estimating in vitro nutrient utilization in BSF. In experiment 1, in vitro ileal disappearance (IVID) and in vitro total tract disappearance (IVTTD) of dry matter (DM) and nitrogen in BSF larva (15 d of age), BSF prepupa (d 17), and BSF adults (d 34) were determined. The IVID of DM and nitrogen in BSF larva was higher () than that in BSF prepupa and BSF adults. The IVTTD of DM in BSF larva and BSF prepupa was higher () than that in BSF adults. In experiment 2, the BSF larva employed in experiment 1 was processed using 4 different methods to obtain dried larva press liquid, dried larva press cake, partially defatted larvae meal (PDLM), and fully defatted larvae meal. The IVID of DM and nitrogen in PDLM was higher () than that in other 3 ingredients. The IVTTD of DM in dried larva press liquid and PDLM was higher () than that in dried larva press cake or fully defatted larvae meal. Based on the feed ingredients employed in experiments 1 and 2, quadratic and linear prediction equations were developed for IVID of DM (; ) and IVTTD of DM (; ), respectively, in BSF-derived ingredients using nitrogen as an independent variable. Overall, the nutrients in BSF larva at 15 d of age were better utilized compared with older growth stages, and the nutrients in PDLM were better utilized compared with other processing methods. Equations for IVID and IVTTD of DM were developed using nitrogen concentrations as an independent variable in BSF-derived ingredients for pigs.","PeriodicalId":48604,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Insects as Food and Feed","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2023-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139338296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Utilisation of mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) oil in Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) diet","authors":"G. Eom, J. Shin, K.J. Lee","doi":"10.1163/23524588-20230088","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/23524588-20230088","url":null,"abstract":"Mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) and their derivatives are sustainable ingredients in aquaculture feeds. This study evaluated the effect of fish oil (FO) replacement with mealworm oil (MO) on growth performance, non-specific immune responses and disease resistance against Vibrio parahaemolyticus for Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). FO in a control diet (Con) was replaced with MO at levels of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% (designated as MO25, MO50, MO75 and MO100, respectively). A total of 480 shrimp (initial mean body weight, 0.884 ± 0.004 g) were randomly distributed into 20 acrylic tanks (240 L) in quadruplicates groups and fed the experimental diets for 58 days. Growth performance was significantly higher in all MO groups than in Con group. Shrimp fed MO50 and MO75 diets showed significantly improved feed utilisation efficiency than shrimp fed Con diet. Lipid metabolism related-gene expressions of fatty acid binding protein and triacylglycerol lipase in hepatopancreas were significantly downregulated by increment of MO in the diets. Digestibility of protein, lipid, energy and dry matter were not significantly affected by the dietary treatments, while digestibility of poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were significantly decreased by dietary MO supplementation. The levels of n-3 PUFA in muscle and hepatopancreas were significantly decreased with increasing MO levels in the diets. Cumulative survival of shrimp in a challenge test against V. parahaemolyticus was higher in all MO groups and significantly higher in MO25 group than in Con group. Non-specific immune responses were significantly enhanced in all MO groups than in Con group. Replacement of FO with MO in the diets significantly increased haemolymph cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Our findings suggest that MO could be utilised as a promising substitute for FO in the diets of L. vannamei and optimal FO replacement level would be 50% for growth and 25% for disease resistance against V. parahaemolyticus.","PeriodicalId":48604,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Insects as Food and Feed","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2023-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139338445","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Siddiqui, O.F. Aidoo, M. Ghisletta, J. Osei-Owusu, Y. Saraswati, K. Bhardwaj, W. Khalid, I. Fernando, A.B. Golik, A.A. Nagdalian, J.M. Lorenzo, P. De Palo, A. Maggiolino
{"title":"African edible insects as human food – a comprehensive review","authors":"S. Siddiqui, O.F. Aidoo, M. Ghisletta, J. Osei-Owusu, Y. Saraswati, K. Bhardwaj, W. Khalid, I. Fernando, A.B. Golik, A.A. Nagdalian, J.M. Lorenzo, P. De Palo, A. Maggiolino","doi":"10.1163/23524588-20230025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/23524588-20230025","url":null,"abstract":"In Africa, food insecurity seems to be a continual problem as a result of various factors such as extreme poverty, water scarcity, land degradation, and climate change. As a result, chronic hunger and malnutrition are still prevalent in many African countries. Consequently, the utilization of available and affordable natural food sources is needed to accommodate the energy and nutritional requirements of the people, such as edible insects. Edible insects are abundant and locally available throughout Africa, hence could be utilized as low-cost, nutritious, and sustainable foods. Around 500 species have been recorded in sub-Saharan Africa out of the 2,100 known edible insect species worldwide. The consumption of insects, also known as entomophagy, has been historically practiced by indigenous people of Africa. To date, edible insects are seen in Africa as a good opportunity, particularly for rural households, to improve their livelihoods at an economic and nutritional level. Edible insects are a great source of energy and nutrients – and their rearing only requires a small amount of water, land and feeding resources. Entomophagy may also serve as an ecologically sound control measure for insect pests, such as locusts, that periodically wreak havoc on agricultural fields. The combination of being a highly nutritious food source and having economic advantages made edible insects very attractive in all the African regions. Their promotions into the diet would ameliorate the well-being of the population and boost economic growth in Africa. However, African countries need local and regional legal frameworks to achieve smooth functioning of marketing of edible insects and their products.","PeriodicalId":48604,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Insects as Food and Feed","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2023-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139338334","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. Peguero, M. Gold, T. Duewell, A. Waser, B. Dubovcova, D. Vandeweyer, C. Zurbrügg, A. Mathys
{"title":"Low energy electron beam to support safe whole dried insect products","authors":"D. Peguero, M. Gold, T. Duewell, A. Waser, B. Dubovcova, D. Vandeweyer, C. Zurbrügg, A. Mathys","doi":"10.1163/23524588-20230124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/23524588-20230124","url":null,"abstract":"Product safety is a major concern when using edible insects and insect-derived products due to insects’ diverse microbial community. Therefore, development of reliable post-processing treatments are required. Commonly used thermal treatments are effective against microorganisms but can have negative effects on product quality and nutritional value. Low-energy electron beam (LEEB) is an emerging non-thermal surface treatment technology for microbial decontamination of low water activity goods while preserving product quality. However, its potential application as an insect post-processing treatment has not been explored. To assess the effectiveness of LEEB treatment (250 keV and 12 kGy), three separate experiments were conducted with dried black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) and yellow mealworm (YMW). First, to assess LEEB’s potential in inactivating microorganisms in insect products, LEEB treatment was conducted on dried BSFL inoculated with Escherichia coli K-12. Secondly, the effect of LEEB treatment on reducing naturally occurring microbial populations after microwave drying was evaluated. Finally, a six-month controlled shelf-life study (24 °C, 65% RH) was conducted to assess the long-term efficacy of LEEB treatment by monitoring physical, chemical and microbiological parameters. LEEB achieved a 4-log10 reduction of inoculated E. coli K-12 on dried BSFL and was effective in reducing numbers of all microbiological parameters (aerobic and anaerobic counts) in YMW. Specifically, in non-inoculated samples, aerobic and anaerobic total viable counts (TVC) were reduced by approximately 4-log10 colony forming units per gram (cfu/g) in YMW. In contrast, LEEB treatment moderately reduced microbial numbers in BSFL, with aerobic and anaerobic TVC reduced by approximately 1–2-log10 cfu/g following LEEB treatment. Microbial counts in both BSFL and YMW remained lower than the control throughout the shelf-life. LEEB treatment did not have an influence on the peroxide value. Therefore, LEEB can be an effective and gentle processing technique to support safe dried insect products.","PeriodicalId":48604,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Insects as Food and Feed","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2023-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139338418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Siddiqui, J. Osei-Owusu, B. Yunusa, T. Rahayu, I. Fernando, M.A. Shah, G. Centoducati
{"title":"Prospects of edible insects as sustainable protein for food and feed – a review","authors":"S. Siddiqui, J. Osei-Owusu, B. Yunusa, T. Rahayu, I. Fernando, M.A. Shah, G. Centoducati","doi":"10.1163/23524588-20230042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/23524588-20230042","url":null,"abstract":"The residual population growth imposes an increase in food demand, driving humans to practice agricultural intensification on a large scale. Paradoxically, food and feed production may end up causing various environmental problems. At the same time, about 2.37 billion people in the World currently lack basic food security insurance. As a consequence, alternative sources that can substantially address the demand for food and feed sustainably are needed. Insect farming may offer an environmentally friendly solution for mitigating global food and feed challenges. The article aims to explore the potential of insects as sustainable food and feed sources while assessing their environmental impact, offering innovative solutions for global food security challenges. By highlighting the benefits of edible insects, the article supports informed decision-making and promotes sustainable practices. Mass production of edible insects has seen record growth over the decade, and their demand as future proteins is projected to reach up to 3 million tons in 2030. Additionally, insect farming is evidenced to be economically viable. To meet the demand for edible insects, a breakthrough such as the internet of things can be used to scale up production and processing. However, detailed environmental impact assessments are needed to predict scenarios of large-scale insect farming. Life cycle assessments of some edible insect production systems have validated that insect farming has various beneficial environmental impacts. The utilization of edible insects as food and feed is promising for significantly improving food security and the environmental sustainability of food.","PeriodicalId":48604,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Insects as Food and Feed","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2023-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139338272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Analytical and numerical characterisation of terminal velocities of Tenebrio molitor larvae in a new, asymmetrical zigzag based separation system","authors":"A. Baur, E. Batmaz, B. Gatternig, A. Delgado","doi":"10.1163/23524588-20230015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/23524588-20230015","url":null,"abstract":"Separation of Tenebrio molitor larvae from unwanted residues, like frass, feed or exuviae is a key process step for an industrial scale plant. One method to separate larvae from residues is using a zigzag air classifier. For designing and for an efficient operation of a zigzag air classifier, the terminal velocity is a key parameter to separate larvae from different residues with a high separation sensitivity. In this work, the terminal velocities of different larvae sizes are evaluated analytically, numerically and experimentally. For this, the sizes of 3 week to 12 week old larvae were used to calculate and simulate the terminal velocity. To validate the results, an experiment was carried out and compared with the analytical and numerical data. For this, a model for T. molitor larvae was designed to calculate the surface and volume of a larva to produce equivalent spheres with the same physical properties as a real larva. The results are showing similar curves with terminal velocities from 5 m/s for young larvae (3 weeks old) to 12 m/s for older larvae (12 weeks old). The deviations between each method are 1 m/s for smaller larvae and 1.5 m/s for bigger larvae. In further experiments and simulations, approaches with calculation methods for non-spherical particles are necessary to achieve results closer to reality due to the cylindrical shape of T. molitor larvae.","PeriodicalId":48604,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Insects as Food and Feed","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2023-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139338248","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Y.C. Li, H.C. Yang, J.M. Zhang, G.J. Wang, W.B. Gong, J.J. Tian, H.Y. Li, K. Zhang, Y. Xia, Z.F. Li, J. Xie, E.M. Yu
{"title":"Effects of dietary defatted Periplaneta americana meal on the growth, antioxidant status, immunity, hepatic and intestinal health of Nile tilapia","authors":"Y.C. Li, H.C. Yang, J.M. Zhang, G.J. Wang, W.B. Gong, J.J. Tian, H.Y. Li, K. Zhang, Y. Xia, Z.F. Li, J. Xie, E.M. Yu","doi":"10.1163/23524588-20230081","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/23524588-20230081","url":null,"abstract":"This study estimated the effects of replacing fish meal (FM) with defatted Periplaneta americana meal (PAM) on the growth, antioxidant status, immunity, and hepatic and intestinal health of juvenile Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Five diets were formulated by replacing 0% (PAM0), 25% (PAM25), 50% (PAM50), 75% (PAM75), and 100% (PAM100) of FM, and then fed to triplicate groups of 15 fish (10.58 ± 0.73 g) for 60 days. The results indicated that growth and feed utilisation were increased in the PAM25 group while decreased in the PAM100 group (). The PAM diets positively influenced serum biochemical parameters. Furthermore, the PAM25 diet enhanced the intestinal protease activity compared to the PAM0 diet (), ameliorating the hepatic and intestinal morphology. In terms of gene expression, PAM25 diet increased the expression levels of growth hormone and growth hormone receptor () compared to the PAM0 diet. The expression of antioxidant genes was enhanced in the liver and intestine in fish fed PAM25, PAM50, and/or PAM75 diets. The intestinal caspase-3 expression was downregulated (PAM25), while the caspase-9 expression was upregulated in the liver and intestine (PAM75 and PAM100) (). The PAM diets also decreased the expression of pro-inflammatory factor genes, including () (PAM25 and PAM50) in the liver and (PAM25) and interleukin-8 (PAM50) in the head kidney, and increased the expression of anti-inflammatory factor genes such as tumor necrosis factor-α (PAM25) in the liver and head kidney and interleukin-10 () (PAM25 and PAM50) in the head kidney (). Overall, these results demonstrated that about 31% replacement of FM (31.58% and 31.93%) with PAM resulted in the best growth performance; However, the FM replacement above 50% declined growth, antioxidant capability, immunity, and hepatic and intestinal health of Nile tilapia.","PeriodicalId":48604,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Insects as Food and Feed","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2023-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139338303","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rheological, textural properties and storage stability of mayonnaise formulated with protein hydrolysate derived from yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor)","authors":"E. Phuah, Y. Lee, T. Tang, S.A. Lim, M. Rambli","doi":"10.1163/23524588-20230100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/23524588-20230100","url":null,"abstract":"Yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor), the larva stage of darkling beetle, confers high nutritional and functional protein and it can serve as a sustainable protein source. The present study therefore evaluated the effect of replacing the egg yolk as emulsifier with yellow mealworm protein hydrolysate powder (YMPH) (0-100%) at 20% increment levels on the rheological and textural properties, colour attributes, emulsion microstructure and storage stability of mayonnaise. The emulsion stability results demonstrated that mayonnaise with up to 60% substitution of YMPH displayed excellent storage stability for 3 weeks (<2% phase separation). In terms of textural properties, all samples showed no significant difference () in firmness whereas consistency decreased steadily with increasing YMPH concentration levels. Microstructure observation of all mayonnaise formulations demonstrated a gradual increase in oil droplet size in parallel with the increase in YMPH concentration. For rheological properties, all mayonnaise exhibited similar gel-like behaviour with greater storage modulus (G’) than loss modulus (G”) and loss tangent (tan δ) less than 1.0. For the colour attributes, increasing YMPH level led to significant decrease () in the L* and b* factors from 73.0 to 27.2 and 23.9 to 8.1, respectively. However, the overall a* factor value increased significantly () from 1.11 to 5.10 as the YMPH concentration increased. This study revealed that insect-based protein hydrolysate has a good potential to serve as an emulsifier.","PeriodicalId":48604,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Insects as Food and Feed","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2023-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139338754","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
C.T. O’Connor, J. Gathercole, S. Finlay-Smits, M.R. McNeill, M. Bowie, C. van Koten, J.D. Morton
{"title":"Attitudes to consumption of edible insects by indigenous Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand: future commercial opportunities","authors":"C.T. O’Connor, J. Gathercole, S. Finlay-Smits, M.R. McNeill, M. Bowie, C. van Koten, J.D. Morton","doi":"10.1163/23524588-20230105","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/23524588-20230105","url":null,"abstract":"Entomophagy (eating insects) can be a sustainable and efficient source of protein, prevalent in many cultures worldwide. However, there is limited research on the perceptions of entomophagy in Aotearoa New Zealand, particularly indigenous Māori perceptions. This work explores Māori perspectives on entomophagy, gaining understanding of the history of entomophagy in Māori culture, how entomophagy is currently perceived, and the potential of edible insect-derived products amongst Māori. An online survey was conducted via Qualtrics™ in 2021 recruiting via close contacts and social media platforms. Within the sample (n = 172), 42% of participants indicated insects play a significant role in Māori culture as food, and 10% as rongoā (traditional Māori medicine). Additionally, insects were described as part of cultural narratives. For insects as food, 47% of participants have eaten or know of their whānau (family) eating insects, with the huhu grub (larvae of a large wood-eating beetle) being the most consumed. We also found that 87% of participants were willing to consume insects in some form. Age had little effect on the likelihood of participants eating insects, except for those aged over 55 who were less likely to consume them. Participants with a flexitarian diet were significantly more willing to consume insects than those with a meat-eating or pescatarian diet. Conversely, participants with a vegetarian diet were more likely to say they would not eat insects. Participants were significantly more likely to consume insects if they were native to Aotearoa New Zealand or fed rongoā rākau (medicinal plants) and farmed sustainably, or if they knew that the type of insect was once eaten by Māori. Our findings show that indigenous Māori already recognise insects as being culturally significant and are relatively open to consuming insects. This presents an opportunity for Māori-led businesses or collaborations with Māori to revitalise insects as a food source.","PeriodicalId":48604,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Insects as Food and Feed","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.1,"publicationDate":"2023-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139338843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}