Wiboon Chongrattanameteekul, Ph.D.

Department of Entomology, Faculty of AgricultureKasetsart University, Thailand

Outline of story

Roles of insects in human community

Relevance to food security

Why eating insects?

Challenges

Insects occurred on this planet about 350-400

millions years ago.

Homo sapiens appeared on the earth about

250,000 years ago.

What do we have in common ?

We share the same world and we are both

“consumers”.

Destructive roles of insect

Insects as pests of crop plants (pre- and

postharvest) and livestock.

Insects which destroy human’s properties.

Insects as direct pest of human and pets and

venomous insects.

Entomophobia / Arachnophobia

Beneficial roles of insect

Insect as pollinator.

Insects which feed on other insects.

Insects for insect products.

Insect for ornamental / aesthetic value

Insect as waste biodegradation agent.

Insects used in scientific study, forensic science.

Insects as source of food and feed

Food Security

The world’s population is expected to hit 9 billion people

by 2050.

How can we increase world food supply?

Expanding production area ?

Increasing production efficiency ?

Improving postharvest technology and

food distribution system to reduce food waste ?

Innovative food sources ?

Relevance of insect to food security

Insects compete with human beings for available food causing food insecurity; consumer pest.

Insect contamination can causes food waste and rejection of food and agricultural commodities from international trade.

Insects can alter quality of crops to unacceptable level

Chemical control of insect may leave insecticide residue creating food safety problems.

Why eating insects?https://edibug.wordpress.com/why-eat-bugs-2/ gave top 10

reasons to eat insects:

Most edible insect species are highly nutritious.

so

urc

es

Pro

tein

(g

)

Fa

t (g

)

CH

O (

g)

Fe

(mg

)

Ca

(m

g)

P(m

g)

K (

mg

)

Vit

. B

1(T

hia

min

e)

Vit

. B

2

(Rib

ofl

avin

)

Vit

B3

(N

iac

in)

Locust 14.3 3.3 2.2 3.0 27.5 150.2 217.4 0.19 0.57 6.67

Small grasshopper

20.6 6.1 3.9 5.0 35.2 238.4 237.4 0.23 1.86 4.64

Mole cricket 15.4 6.3 1.7 41.7 75.7 254.1 267.8 0.20 1.89 4.81

Diving beetle 21.0 7.1 0.3 6.4 36.7 204.8 197.9 0.31 3.51 6.85

Silkworm pupae

9.6 5.6 2.3 1.8 41.7 155.4 138.7 0.12 1.05 0.89

Chicken 20.8 2.4 0 1.2 11.0 214.0 - 0.15 0.16 7.90

Beef 20.0 7.2 0 3.0 9.0 171.0 - 0.07 0.34 6.70

Pork (without lard)

14.1 35.0 0 2.1 8.0 151.0 - 0.69 0.16 3.70

Source: Division of Nutrition, Thailand

Nutritional values per 100 g fresh weight of food

It takes less water to raise insects — much,

much less: up to 1000 times less.

If insects themselves were deemed a food crop,

imagine how much we could cut down on

pesticide use, and its associated

environmental damage.

Insects are a great, inexpensive, green source

of the protein desperately needed by starving

peoples. If we can help create a market and

funding for it, there is the potential to help spread nourishment throughout the planet.

Major challenges include:

Further awareness-raising

Influencing policy makers to approve insect

inclusive food and feed legislations

Scientific evidence and benefits of using insects in

the food and feed chains.

Adaptive insect rearing techniques for various

levels.

Thank you……