In February, the European Commission announced that it had approved crickets as food, the third insect approved by the European Union for food since 2020, after mealworms and locusts.
At the two sessions of the National People's Congress in March this year, Yang Zhongqi, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, an expert in entomology and the chief expert of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, submitted a proposal to "add edible insects to the list of chinese food", saying that insects are easy to raise and are an important source of protein.
In fact, human consumption of insects has a long history. Uncle Ku will introduce today what is so powerful about insects.
Text | Xie Fang, Observer of The Observatory Think Tank, Ding Wenke (Intern)
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1 thousand years of insectivorous history
Insects are one of the oldest biological species in the world, appearing 340 million years ago. The mainland is one of the first countries to use and eat insects, dating back to the pre-Qin period, and there are written references.
In the Zhou Li Tianguan, the use of the sauce made of white ant eggs, the oyster (pronounced "Chi Hai"), is recorded: not only a favorite delicacy of the Zhou royal family and nobles, but also an offering during their sacrifice. The Book of Rites and Internal Rules records that the noble menu lists "Jue, 鷃 (pronounced 'Yan'), 蜩 (pronounced 'strip'), Fan", etc., of which "蜩" refers to cicadas and "Fan" refers to bees.
In the folk food culture of the Tang and Song dynasties, the consumption of locusts was very common, but it was mostly seen in famine scenes. Some works also detail the methods of locust hunting and eating as an important means of rescuing disaster victims. Written in the Ming Dynasty, the "Compendium of Materia Medica" records the eating methods and medicinal principles of more than 100 species of insects such as cicadas, bees, silkworms, and crickets.
However, combing through the ancient history of insectivorism on the mainland, it can be found that in addition to the edible value of the insects themselves, there are other aspects of the impact attached.
For example, political influence is mainly manifested as the exemplary role of rulers.
The Tang Dynasty historian Wu Jing's "Zhenguan Politicians" recorded the story of "Tang Taizong swallowing locusts": in the second year of Zhenguan (628), a locust plague broke out in the Gyeonggi region, and grain production was greatly reduced. The people have had it, and they have given it to one person, but when it corrupts my heart, it is harmless to the people", he devoured the locusts despite the dissuasion of his ministers. Since then, the locusts have ceased to be infested.
Tang Taizong's swallowing of locusts will undoubtedly lead to imitation behavior among hundreds of officials and people, and then promote the formation of a food culture of eating locusts.
The fried locust crust is crispy and soft on the inside. Source: Zheng Minghong| Xinhua News Agency
For example, the culture of blessing. In ancient China, locust plagues occurred frequently, and people ate locusts and prayed for the elimination of locusts and a bumper harvest. This custom is still continued by some ethnic minorities on the mainland - the Hani will hold the "Grasshopper Catching Festival" on June 24 of the lunar calendar every year, and all the men, women and children in the village will go to the fields to catch grasshoppers and take them home to cook and eat, and when they leave the fields, they will shout, "Grasshoppers, don't catch you in three days, you don't eat rice for three months!" ”
For example, superstitious thoughts. Similar to the "form complement" pursued by modern people, the ancients ate grasshoppers (grasshoppers) in order to obtain their strong reproductive ability and pursue many children and blessings; eating ants, crickets, etc., is to obtain their brave and good fighting spirit or strong physical strength.
Today, human consumption of insects has continued from ancient times to modern times. There are more than 1 million known insect species in the world, of which about 3560 are edible insect species. The continent is home to 150,000 species of insects, of which 324 are edible.
What exactly is good for insects?
2 Supplement food sources
In fact, the insects themselves contain more nutrients than everyone can imagine.
Let's first understand the proportion and representative of insects that can now be eaten: Coleoptera (such as beetles), accounting for 31%; Lepidoptera (such as butterflies, moths), accounting for 18%; Hymenoptera (such as bees, ants), accounting for 14%; Orthoptera (such as grasshoppers, locusts and crickets) accounting for 13%; Hemiptera (such as cicadas, bugs), accounting for 10%; Isoptera (such as termites), accounting for 3%; Dragonflies (such as dragonflies), accounting for 3%; Dipterans (such as flies), accounting for 2%, and other insects, accounting for 6%.
These insects, because of the difference in ethnicity, development stage, growth environment, etc., contain different nutrients, but overall show the characteristics of nutrient richness.
On August 31, 2021, the Inner Mongolia Museum of Natural History held an exhibition of live insects. Source: Wang Zheng| Xinhua News Agency
The first is the high protein content. Edible insects generally account for 30%-70% of their dry weight, exceeding the protein content of general livestock, poultry, fish and eggs. Among them, the protein content of Hemiptera is 42% to 73%, and the protein content of Orthoptera is between 60% and 80%, such as the protein content of Cicada Pupae is about 49%.
The superiority of insect protein is not only reflected in the high content, but also in the high digestibility. In general, the protein digestibility of eggs and beef is 95% and 98%, while the protein digestibility of termites and green locusts can reach 90% and 82%, respectively. The protein digestibility of insects is similar to that of animals, higher than that of plants - plant protein is surrounded by cellulose and cannot be fully exposed to digestive enzymes in the human body.
[Note: Nutrients digested and absorbed by animals in food are called digestible nutrients, and digestible nutrients account for the percentage of nutrients eaten, which is digestibility protein. Digestibility refers to the degree to which a protein is broken down by digestive enzymes. 】
The basic building blocks of proteins – amino acids , can also be provided by insects. For example, the bee pupa contains 18 kinds of amino acids, including 8 kinds of amino acids that are essential to the human body; mealworm (also known as bread worm) contains 17 kinds of amino acids, of which 7 kinds of essential amino acids and 4 kinds of semi-synthetic amino acids of the human body, it is also known as the "protein feed treasure house".
Second, fat is the second largest nutrient for insects, and the dry weight of insects contains an average of 10% to 50% fat. Bamboo worms contain up to 60% fat content, and cockroaches and termites have an average fat content of 30% and 33%, respectively. Among the fats of insects, unsaturated fatty acids that are beneficial to the human body dominate, for example, in 60% of the fat of bamboo insects, the content of unsaturated fatty acids is about 56%.
What's more, insects have lower cholesterol levels than common foods. The cholesterol content of crickets is about 105mg/100g, and locusts are about 66mg/100g. Correspondingly, the cholesterol content of eggs is about 372mg/100g, which is 3 to 6 times that of the above two insects.
Finally, insects also contain vitamins, minerals, etc. that humans need. It should be known that trace elements are also one of the indispensable nutrients in the human body, iron deficiency can lead to iron deficiency anemia, and iodine deficiency will lead to endemic goiter disease.
In the early stages of development, the iron content of grasshoppers is about 28 times that of lean pork, and the iron content of moth caterpillars reaches 31-77mg/100g. In addition, the content of vitamin A in the bee pupae exceeds that of beef, the content of vitamin D is 10 times that of dried fish oil, it also contains dozens of enzymes that are beneficial to the human body, as well as germanium, selenium, zinc, calcium, etc.; grasshoppers, crickets and beetles are rich in vitamin B9.
Some insects also contain antioxidants and enzyme inhibitors that help digest fats, which means that eating some insects can help eliminate high cholesterol and obesity.
Back in 2013, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released a report, Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security. The report notes that many insects are rich in protein, fat, calcium, iron and zinc, and even more than traditional meats. At the same time, FAO also pointed out that on a global scale, insects are already part of the diet of at least 2 billion people.
In 2018, a study published in Science Reports, a journal owned by Nature, showed that eating grasshoppers can promote the growth of beneficial bacteria and improve the intestinal flora.
In general, insects, with their small bodies, carry a variety of nutrients needed by humans, and supplement food sources, especially meat sources, at a time when the world's population is expanding.
[Note: In 2019, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat (UNDESA) noted in a report titled World Population Outlook 2019: Highlights that the world's population is expected to reach 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and a peak of nearly 11 billion by the end of the century. 】
3 The benefits go beyond nutrition
In addition to being nutritious, edible insects have two major advantages.
The first is environmental protection.
In most poor areas, the insects eaten are caught from nature and are pure natural foods. A few insects, such as silkworms, crickets, bees, mealworms, ants, and houseflies, have begun to be reared on a large scale due to their own characteristics.
From the perspective of the breeding stage, these insects are veritable "green products".
First of all, insects reproduce quickly and produce large yields. An ordinary pair of houseflies, under good conditions, can reproduce 100 trillion offspring in half a year, and through their eggs alone, they can get 300 tons of protein.
On June 14, 2020, villagers harvested grasshoppers at the grasshopper breeding base in Meng's Flying Locust Fishing Town, Tieying Town, Leling City, Shandong Province. Source: Fan Changguo| Xinhua News Agency
Secondly, compared with other animal foods, the input of edible insects is low and the conversion rate of resources is high.
In order to maintain a constant body temperature, traditional livestock such as pigs, cattle, sheep, and chickens need to consume more energy during the growth process, while insects do not need to be warmed and cooled during the feeding process, and the demand for resources is much lower.
For example, raising crickets requires one-sixth of the food needed to raise cattle, and only 1/2000 of the water required by cattle; the same extract of 1 gram of edible protein requires 8 to 14 times the land needed for beef, which is 8 to 14 times that of mealworms and 5 times more water.
Some insects can even grow and multiply on an organic matrix, converting low-value organic by-products into high-value proteins, that is, insects can live by eating "garbage".
For example, whiteflies can be raised on dried organic waste from fruits and vegetables, and mealworms can be grown in mixed organic compounds such as brewer's yeast residue and biofuels. Not long ago, Uncle Ku also introduced that wax worms can chew and eat polyethylene PE film, and use strains in the intestine to degrade plastics, which undoubtedly helps to alleviate the plastic crisis.
You know, 2019 data shows that global agricultural waste produces $750 billion worth of organic matter per year, which, if combined with insect farming, is of great significance to the sustainable development of the planet.
[Note: Agricultural waste mainly includes crop residues (straw, rice husks, bagasse, leaves) and animal defecation.] 】
Finally, insect farming does not require antibiotics and emits few greenhouse gases, making it very environmentally friendly. Taking the yellow mealworm as an example, the carbon emissions of chickens are 32% to 167% higher than that of mealworms, and the carbon emissions of cattle are 6 to 13 times that of mealworms.
The second is to promote employment.
The promotion of edible insects plays an important role in food security and livelihoods in poor areas.
Fao estimates that there are currently about 1 billion people living in poverty worldwide, using insects as an important source of protein.
Essen, in northeastern Thailand, is one of the poorest regions in Thailand. Local children tend to catch crickets the night before and take them to school the next day after frying to make lunch, and for them, these fried insects are the best meat they can eat.
FAO also believes that in poor areas, insect harvesting and farming can also provide jobs and generate economic benefits.
In southern Africa, for example, women and children earn living expenses by collecting cola beanwood caterpillars, and over time, a multimillion-dollar industry gradually takes shape. In Cambodia, the NGO DCA has helped locals get rid of poverty by teaching insect farming, and insect farming and cooking have become one of the most important ways to eliminate poverty in rural Cambodia.
4 Current state of global consumption
In this way, eating insects seems to be beneficial and harmless?
In fact, there are still some risks.
Some insects contain pathogenic microorganisms or parasites, such as bamboo worms can carry salmonella, Shigella (also known as dysentery bacillus) and other pathogenic bacteria in the intestine, and improper consumption will have the risk of infection.
Some parts of insects contain toxic substances, such as the hairs on the surface of pine caterpillar larvae, which are poisonous and can only be eaten after the toxic parts have been removed.
A very small number of insects share allergens with other arthropods (such as crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs and molluscs), and allergic reactions may occur when consumed improperly. In this regard, Yang Darong, a researcher at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and chairman of the Entomological Society of Yunnan Province, said, "In addition to some types of protein such as Hymenoptera, which will cause one in tens of thousands of people to have heterosexual protein allergies, insects are a very safe food." ”
At present, according to the information published by FAO and other scientific research institutions, the risk of catching or breeding various insects, bacteria and viruses is not higher than that of other ingredients. Whether it is directly cooked and eaten, or through modern food processing as a raw material, the virus and bacterial risks of insects can be well controlled and avoided.
Globally, however, progress towards eating insects varies.
In the West, in May 2017, the Swiss government amended its food law to allow food suppliers to use grasshoppers, mealworms and crickets as ingredients, and Switzerland became the first country in Europe to publicly sell insect food.
In 2018, the EU's New Food Act (Revised) was fully updated and implemented, requiring all insects to be approved for consumption.
In July 2020, the European Commission approved mealworm as a new type of food for the EU market, which can be added in the form of powder to foods such as biscuits or pasta. This is the first time the European Union has approved insects as food. In November 2021, the European Commission approved locusts as a new type of food. In February, crickets became the third insect approved, which can be refrigerated or dried and sold as whole, or as powder.
At present, Germany has a joint processing enterprise with an annual output of 8,000 tons of insect food, which can make corn borers and silkworms into canned food after chemical treatment. Belgian food companies regularly cultivate crickets on their farms and develop biscuits made from crickets.
In 2019, a British baking brand launched bread made of cricket powder, and the average cricket powder used in a bread came from 336 crickets.
Cricket bread from a British baking brand. Source: @Xinhua International
In Asia, there are 20,000 registered cricket farms in Thailand, the country with the largest number of cricket farms in the world, and the world's most advanced cricket culture system, with an annual output of up to 7500 tons. In addition to crickets, the Thai people also love to eat grasshoppers, tianniu, bamboo worms, etc., and import more than 800 tons of insects from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, China and other countries every year to fill the gap in domestic demand.
In South Korea, the pet food market containing insect protein is growing. In 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock and Food of the Republic of Korea estimates that by 2030, the domestic pet food market containing insect protein is expected to reach 70.7 billion won (about 380 million yuan), much higher than the 17 billion won (0.9 billion yuan) in 2018. To help local Korean companies, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock and Food will invest 360 million won (1.94 million yuan) to support the construction of insect farms.
Looking at poor countries, they are limited by the state of economic development, and it is difficult to fully carry out the above industrial farming, which is also the direction that FAO is trying to call for and promote - the transformation of catching wild insects into large-scale artificial breeding can undoubtedly alleviate the local food shortage.
5 Selfless insects
In China, the insect farming industry has developed for many years and has a certain scale, but insects are mainly used to treat garbage such as agricultural fertilizers, or to make feed.
For example, the larvae of the yellow mealworm, which is repeatedly mentioned in this article, are one of the most ideal feed insects for artificial breeding. Mealworm is a completely metamorphosed insect, a growth cycle is divided into eggs, larvae, pupae, adult insects four stages, 3 to 4 months can be harvested and sold, a year can be reared for four seasons. At present, in Shandong, Tianjin and other places, the cultivation of yellow mealworms has formed a large-scale industry to help local farmers get rid of poverty and become rich.
Edible insects are mostly found in ethnic minority areas on the mainland. Many ethnic minorities in Yunnan have retained the custom of eating insects due to geography, history and other reasons, and tourists who travel to the local area should have heard of the "insect feast", fried dragonflies, cold mixed ant eggs (eggs of rhubarb ants), fried coconut worms, fried know-it-all, fried flower spiders, and everything.
For example, guizhou province, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, has always had a tradition of eating locusts. Previously, every year when the corn was harvested, the local villagers would run to catch wild locusts and eat them themselves, or sell them for thousands of dollars.
Yuan Jinhua of Wanfeng Village felt that this was a business opportunity and began to think about using greenhouses to breed locusts on a large scale. Now, he has a 90 square meter greenhouse can raise four stubble locusts a year, output 400 pounds, according to the market price of 40 yuan a pound calculation, a greenhouse a year gross income of 16,000 yuan, profit of 7,000 yuan, an acre of land a year net profit of about 35,000 yuan, mu output value is higher than other traditional industries.
In October 2019, local villagers farmed locusts at a locust breeding base in Wanfeng Village, Yedonghe Town, Huangping County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province. Source: Yang Xin| Xinhua News Agency
However, for most Chinese people, eating food that maintains the prototype of insects is still a bit difficult to mouth. Yang Zhongqi said that the industrialization of edible insects still needs to be overcome by the Chinese people.
In fact, for insect food that has lost or hidden its original appearance, we have unconsciously eaten some. For example, most of the imported protein powder that fitness people often eat is made of crushed crickets; the coffee powder we drink contains less than 10% of insect fragments, mainly cockroaches; there are fruit fly larvae in bayberry and rice worms in rice, which are likely to enter our mouths and become our additional protein intake.
As Liao Huaijian, director of the Institute of Recreational Agriculture of the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said, "A person will eat at least 13 bugs in his lifetime."
It is worth noting that insects contribute to the field of medicine in addition to eating.
The Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (2015 edition) contains 13 species of medicinal insects and products, and 9 species of insects have participated in more than 80 kinds of proprietary Chinese medicine formulations.
For example, phenethyl caffeate extracted from propolis can treat eye diseases such as cataracts; fly-eared beetles can promote neutrophils and a small number of lymphocytes to proliferate and engulf bacteria, play a role in detoxification, drainage, swelling and pain relief; the extract of dried insects of American cockroach is the main component of the new solution for rehabilitation, which can play a role in activating blood stasis, detoxification and accumulation.
In addition to food and medicine, insects have eight other ways of utilization, namely craft and recreational insects, natural enemy insects, beverage insects, textbook insects, industrial raw materials insects, improved soil insects, medical insects, pollinator insects and index ecological insects.
It can be said that small insects have continuously made great contributions to the survival and development of human beings for thousands of years. In a future where natural resources are withering, we will continue to rely on them.
Resources:
1. The History and Industrial Development of China's Edible Insect Culture| Liu Ming and Zhai Ronghui, Agricultural Archaeology, No. 3, 2017
2. Research progress of edible insects| Qu Xiaoyu, Li Min, Li Hailan, Liu Jiatong, Ren Xiaoqing, Food Research and Development, No. 42, 2021
3. Overview of the nutritional function of several common edible insects| Liu Zeyu, Li Long, Wu Guohua, China Sericulture, No. 40, 2019
4. A Brief Analysis of the Edible Value and Future Prospects of Insect Protein| Wu Zeqi and Lin Jinglan, Food Safety Herald, No. 20, 2020
5. FAO calls for attention to be given to the development of insect food value| Xinhua net, 14 May 2013
6. The impact of insects as food and feed on environmental sustainability| Sun Mingmei, China Feed, No. 22, 2019
7. South Korea's insect protein-containing pet food market is promising| Xinhua News Agency, November 16, 2022
8. Research on the Development Status and Problems of the World Insect Food Industry| Hou Mengting, Hu Jiaxiang, Liu Aijun, World Agriculture, No. 4, 2019
9. The European Union approves insect edible | for the first time, Southern Metropolis Daily, May 4, 2021
10. A Preliminary Study on the Historical Evolution and Present Situation of Research on Medicinal Insect Resources in Mainland China| Zhang Xingxian, Ruan Jie, and Ma Zhanqiang, Biological Processing Process, No. 17, 2019
11. Raising "Grasshoppers" out of the road to poverty alleviation| Yang Xin and Zheng Minghong, Xinhua News Agency client Guizhou Channel, October 18, 2019
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