Evolution of the interest on edible insects

Abstract

Insects are being used as foods in both ancient and present days in different societies. A FAO report of 2013 reckoned that insect, farming in a that large-scale, would be the most effective way to addressed global food insecurity. At present nevertheless, there are poor knowledge on sustainably of farm insects and about species that would be best suited commercially. In the present work a tentative was made to describe the state of the art up to today on the subject of edible insects with emphasis on the important facts about them. In particular, special attention was given to Tenebrio molitor and Hermetia illucens, considered among the most promising insect larvae with extraordinary potential to be a food source alternative. The role that they can play when looking for more environmentally friendly alternatives for proteins and fats and the role of edible insects in the preservation of the environment were highlighted. A survey on the Web of Science data base was made in order to establish the evolution on the number of published articles about edible insects and in particular the two mentioned edible insects with time. it is worth mentioning that until the 1980 decade, the number of published articles on edible insects was very poor. In the mentioned data base, it was found that the first article on that subject was published on 1973. The amazing and increasing interest on experimental studies using edible insects in the last three decades correlate to the search for alternative sources of quality proteins and other important nutrients found in edible insects, besides the classical protein sources such as meat or to a less extent, plant proteins.