Although it is not common in many countries, including our country, and it is something that many people swear by saying “I will never do”, it is quite normal to consume insects as food, especially in Asian and African countries. Moreover, it is known that insects, which are a complete protein nest, have many health benefits.
Researchers think it’s quite possible for insects to be the ‘food of the future’. According to a new research paper published in the scientific journal Trends in Plant Science, scientists suggest that switching to a diet that includes insects will also have a positive effect on the crops we grow, such as the fruit and vegetables.
Consuming insects can have a major impact on sustainable agriculture
An excellent source of protein, insects use far fewer resources to produce food compared to conventional farming . For example; if you feed about 2 kilograms of feed to the mealworm farm, you will get one kilogram of edible protein; but for beef you need 10 times more space and in addition to that the greenhouse gas produced is 18 times more.
The authors examine the use of waste products from the production of insects for human food and animal feed, and the benefits that these wastes can have on growing sustainable crops. Accordingly, insect farm byproducts are thought to provide crop farmers with an organic soil additive that promotes plant growth and influences the soil microbiome in a way that supports plant health.
The authors of the article on the subject, “From the production of a new animal protein source, namely yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor), small mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus), house cricket (Acheta domesticus), black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) or a new organic soil amendment arises from the production of insects such as the housefly (Musca domestica) for food and forage.”
Consuming insects can promote healthy plant growth
Using insects for food and feed typically results in two by-products: insect excrement and insect molting. the remaining exoskeleton (exuviae). It seems highly likely that these two by-products are extremely robust potential alternatives to conventional fertilizers and pesticides. “An important component of the exoskeleton is chitin, a high molecular weight amino-sugar polysaccharide that is also found in fungal cell walls and the exoskeleton of many crustaceans. Soil amendments containing chitin have been shown to promote plant growth,” the authors write.
“However, there are a number of bacteria that can metabolize chitin, and these microbes help plants become more resistant to diseases and pests,” said plant biologist Marcel Dicke from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, who was one of the authors of the study. added, populations of these beneficial bacteria increase.” states as.
In addition, adding insect excrement to the soil may promote plant growth, as insect excrement is rich in nitrogen, a nutrient essential for plant growth but scarce in most soils. “Similarly, the addition of insects to the soil has been shown to provide plants with nitrogen and other nutrients, which increases their biomass and nutrient content,” noted the researchers. “It can be an important factor in promoting growth and health,” he adds.
Exoskeleton can also function as pest control
On the other hand, the researchers found that beneficial soil bacteria that metabolize chitin from the exoskeleton will not only accelerate plant growth; He notes that it will also cause changes in plant physiology, attracting reciprocal insects such as pollinators and even natural enemies of antagonistic insects. That means it’s quite possible that the exoskeleton could act as a pest control tool.
With all this, the authors argue that the application of insect breeding byproducts to crops could be a step towards a circular food system in which waste is virtually eliminated. According to this circular system, insects that feed on waste streams from crop farming or food production then become food for humans and meat products. The circle is completed by using the leftovers from insect production to encourage and support crop growth.
At this point, of course, there remains a very important step: to familiarize people, especially Westerners, with the idea of consuming insects as food and to popularize it. Although Dicke on this subject states that he has tasted many kinds of insects in many parts of the world and has always enjoyed these dishes, it can be said that it will take a long time for the idea of eating insects to be adopted by a large part.
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