Edible insect proteins for advanced encapsulation: Linking nutrition, functionality and sustainability

The growing demand for sustainable protein sources has pushed edible insects into the spotlight as a valuable option. In addition to their rich nutritional content, insect proteins show functional properties that make them useful for more than just food enrichment. One emerging application is their role as carriers for bioactive compounds, which can improve food quality, stability, and targeted delivery. This review aims to critically evaluate the potential of edible insect proteins as advanced encapsulation materials by analyzing their nutritional, functional, and structural properties across key species. The findings demonstrate that insect proteins exhibit emulsifying, gelling, and stabilizing characteristics comparable to or exceeding conventional encapsulants, with promising proof-of-concept results, primarily from in vitro studies, in protecting curcumin, bioactive peptides, and probiotics. By establishing a framework linking insect protein functionality to encapsulation performance, this work provides a foundation for developing sustainable, high-performance delivery systems that can reduce reliance on animal-derived encapsulants, lower the environmental footprint of functional foods and nutraceuticals, and support circular bioeconomy objectives through valorization of agri-food waste. This review brings together current knowledge on the nutritional and functional aspects of edible insect proteins, with a focus on their use in encapsulation systems. It highlights species such as Tenebrio molitor , Acheta domesticus , and Hermetia illucens , outlining their protein composition and structures relevant to encapsulation. The review also considers their applications across food and nutraceuticals. Edible insect proteins are repositioned as multifunctional biomaterials, linking their compositional and structural characteristics to encapsulation performance and delivery efficiency. It advances a more integrated perspective by examining how extraction methods, physicochemical properties, and processing conditions influence their behavior in encapsulation systems.