Nutritional Composition of Four Edible Insects in Southern Nigeria

Edible insects have played a vital role in the history of human nutrition in Southern Nigeria. This study is therefore aimed at determining the nutritional composition of four commonly consumed insects in Southern Nigeria. These insects include Rhynchophorus phoenicis larva, Oryctes rhinoceros larva, Acheta domesticus and Macrotermes bellicosus from the orders of Coleoptera, Isoptera and Orthoptera. The proximate composition and vitamin content of the insects were determined using standard analytical methods. Statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA to determine significant differences. The moisture content ranged from 9.2 ± 0.29% to 58.9 ± 0.78%. The highest lipid value was found in M. bellicosus with lipid content of 28.7 ± 0.29% and the least value in A. domesticus with a content of 8.3 ± 0.51%. The difference in lipid content among the insects was statistically significant with P ˂ 0.05. The highest amount of 38.2 ± 0.21% crude protein was found in A. domesticus. The difference in the crude protein content among the insects was also statistically significant with P ˂ 0.05. The insect with the richest carbohydrate content was A. domesticus with a content of 31.9 ± 0.37% with R. phoenicis having the least amount of 3.1 ± 0.14%. The ash content ranged from 2.9 ± 0.15% in R. phoenicis to 14.1 ± 0.24% in M. bellicosus. A. domesticus had the highest vitamin A content value of 4.2 ± 0.01 with M. bellicosus having the lowest value of 2.2 ± 0.08 in µM. The observed vitamin C values were in the range of 56.8 ± 0.96 to 11.5 ± 0.66 in µM. M. bellicosus had the highest vitamin E value of 32.6 ± 0.24µM. These results indicate that these insects/insect larvae have potential for incorporation in industrial food processes and for use in animal feed/ food formulation.