BORED eating the same types of food? Why not try exotic and weird foods man has been eating since time immemorial.
Examples of some weird foods (of course popular food) include cooked chicken feet of South-East Asia prepared by deep frying and brining followed by coating with flavoured sauce, bird-nest soup of South-East Asia prepared using saliva collected from swiftlet birds nest, haggis pudding of Scotland, prepared by crushing and mixing heart, liver and lungs of sheep followed by cooking it inside animal stomach, century egg of China which is a preserved rotten egg having a strong sulphur and ammonia smell, snake wine of China and Vietnam, prepared by immersing snake in rice wine or by mixing snakes blood with alcohol and many others.
Each country has its own weird foods which should be tasted once in lifetime. However, many people do not taste weird foods mainly because of food neophobia (resistance to explore new foods).
Insects as food
Technically insects are defined as small animals (arthropods) having six legs, one-two pairs of wings with body parts divided into three. World over, nearly three million insect species survive in almost all environmental conditions.
Edible insects are consumed directly or after processing (cooking, frying, etc), while some of their products are consumed as food (honey, saliva from birds nest).
Chitin (carbohydrate polymer) and chitin based products of insects are economically valued. Popular carmine dye obtained from dried female-cochineal insects has food (in sweet candies, ice-cream, juice and yogurt) and cosmetic (eye shadow, lipstick) value.
Eating insects is known as entomophagy. Some of the edible insects include species of ants, termites, bees, wasps, dragonflies, caterpillars, bamboo caterpillars, house-flies, beetles, dung beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, locusts, leaf-hoppers, scale insects, etc.
Eating insects is considered a tradition in many countries and this can be for pleasure or to overcome food shortage. People who have eaten insects have indicated the taste to be buttery, cheesy, nutty, woody, intense or sour.
Insects consumption has been documented since the Roman era and today is still popular in parts of Africa and Asia (Cambodia, China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam). The majority of edible insects are usually collected in the wild.
Recent reports indicates gaining popularity of insects farming (for food) in many countries (eg red palm weevils from sago palm farms, farmed cockroaches, beetles, grasshoppers). In many regions of Asia and Africa, varieties of ants (carpenter ants, leafcutter ants, lemon ants) are eaten either as raw or mixed with other food ingredients.
Escamol dish (of Mexico) is prepared from larva and pupae of escamoles ants.
In Kenya, termites are consumed raw directly from mounds. Roasted bees are popular in Asian regions.
In Cambodia (Skuon region), oil fried spider (marinated with sugar, salt and garlic) is a delicacy. Fried or boiled wasps (adult or larva) are consumed with cooked rice in parts of Asia. Wasp crackers are popular in Japan and surrounding regions.
In Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, sundried or smoked mopane worms (caterpillars) are consumed with chilli sauce and tomato. These appetising mopane are also a source of daily protein.
Crispy cockroach fries or toasted, fried, sautéed, boiled cockroaches are popular in China and Madagascar. Mild leafy tasting walking stick insects are eaten in parts of Asia and Papua New Guinea.
Deep fried bamboo worms, silk larvae, crickets and spiders are delicacy in parts of Thailand. Dragonfly (adult or larva) is consumed in Indonesia after dipping in sticky palm-sap or after boiling or frying.
Fried grasshoppers are mixed with lime, salt and chilly and eaten in Mexico (chapulines), Uganda (nsenene) and parts of Thailand.
Eating fried, roasted or boiled cricket insects is common in Cambodia, Mexico and Thailand.
Boiled or steam cooked silkworms are delicacy in parts of Asia, while fried dung beetles (common in animal dungs) is a popular dish too.
Not to forget the world famous tasty Italian maggot cheese (Casu marzu), containing live insect larva.
Nutrition in insects
The value of plant-based (grains, pulses) and animal-based proteins (poultry, seafood and products like milk, cheese, egg) are well established.
Nutritional value among edible insects can vary tremendously. However, scientific reports on edible insects’ nutritional qualities are scarce.
Most edible insects are reported to be rich in chitin (nearly 10 per cent in dried insects), minerals (iron, calcium, zinc), digestible proteins, vitamins and fibre.
Edible insects’ proteins (more than 50 per cent) are reported to be higher than plant or animal proteins, and contain all essential amino acids!
Grasshoppers are rich in protein, minerals (calcium and vitamins) and vitamins (Sphenarium grasshoppers are good source of niacin).
Surprisingly, fatty acids of the house fly is reported to be identical to fish oils (saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids)!
Silkworm pupae, a widely consumed insect in parts of Asia have comparable protein qualities to animals (reported ratio of essential to non-essential amino acids is 0.6).
Further, “Angolan” caterpillar is reported to be rich in essential minerals (copper, iron, zinc) and vitamins (thiamine and riboflavin).
To meet protein requirements in people suffering from starvation or HIV, World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended insect consumption as a food to stabilise immunological impairments.
Safety issues
Like any other foodstuff, insect consumption can induce allergy.
Accidental ingestion of caterpillars or cocoons (hickory tussock moths) by children (in Canada, Mexico and USA) was reported to make swallowing difficult, shortness of breath, slavering, urticaria and other reactions.
Chitin related negative health impacts (especially related to immune system) was also reported.
Induction of allergy on eating silkworm pupa is reported from China.
Many non-farmed insects can be carriers of human pathogens. Also, certain edible insects are categorised as agricultural pests. Hence, insect farming needs to be carefully handled in an organised manner.
Scope in Fiji
To overcome issues of food security (during emergency situations of natural disasters) insects can be used as nutritious food.
Because of a huge export market, this multibillion dollar industry can be profitable in Fiji. If planned properly, a safe and effectual mass-rearing system can be developed on unused lands.
Insects reproduce fast because of a short life span, which is advantageous for assuring successful rearing system.
Accumulating traditional knowledge on insect consumption in Fiji (if any) can be an added advantage for rearing as human food or livestock feed.
Further, insect rearing can have a positive impact on biodiversity too. Reports available indicate insects to emit less greenhouse gases compared to farmed livestock. Further, there are no reports on medicinal value of edible insects and this can be explored.
Sharing knowledge of entomophagy among farmers, consumers or industrialists can be positive in this region.
* Dr Rajeev Bhat is an associate professor and head of FNU’s Food Science Department. Views expressed are his and not of this newspaper or his employer.
