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For the first time, a study measured levels of antioxidants in commercially available edible insects.
Of course, most of them do not have six legs – and scorpions, spiders and centipedes are not even insects. But for open-minded health enthusiasts, that's good news: crickets contain 75% of the antioxidant power of fresh orange juice and silkworm fat twice that of olive oil.
And even if ladybugs fart, insects have a tiny footprint of soil, water and carbon compared to livestock – so anything that encourages insect consumption is also good news for the planet.
Look who came back crawling
Faced with the fact that we are eating ourselves and the planet to death, the West has begun reluctantly considering crawling critters as a more sustainable alternative to meat and animal products.
"At least 2 billion people – a quarter of the world's population – regularly eat insects," says Professor Mauro Serafini, lead author of the study published in Frontiers in Nutrition. "The rest of us will need a little more encouragement."
By offering selfish and immediate incentives, consumers would be able to make the green choice, says Serafini. Taste and image are essential – but for many, health is also an incentive.
"Edible insects are an excellent source of protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids, minerals, vitamins, and fiber, but until now, no one has compared them to conventional functional foods such as food." olive oil or orange juice in terms of antioxidant activity. "
The antioxidant activity is this free radical scavenging ability that usually refers to a "superfood" – although this ill-defined term is avoided by researchers, Serafini says.
L & # 39; study
The researchers tested a range of commercially available edible insects and invertebrates, using various measures of antioxidant activity.
The inedible parts such as wings and stings were removed, then the insects were ground and two parts extracted for each species: the fat and all that would dissolve in the water.
Each extract was then tested for its antioxidant content and activity.
"In terms of perspective, using the same setup, we tested the antioxidant capacity of fresh orange juice and olive oil, functional foods known to exert effects antioxidants in humans, "says Serafini.
The first ranking of antioxidant insects
The water soluble extracts of grasshoppers, silkworms and crickets showed the highest values of antioxidant capacity – five times higher than fresh orange juice – while giant cicadas, stink bugs Giant water, black tarantula and black scorpions had negligible values.
"The trend is clear: vegetarians have a significantly higher antioxidant capacity," notes Serafini.
Note that these comparisons concern dry and non-greasy insect dust – a little more difficult to swallow than the new OJ. Nevertheless, some quick calculations show that, at the same dilution (88% water), grasshoppers and silkworms would have about 75% of the antioxidant activity of essential oils.
It is interesting to note that the total polyphenol content – the main source of antioxidant activity derived from plants – followed a similar trend from one species to another, but was much lower in all insects compared to OJ.
"These results suggest that, besides polyphenols, the antioxidant capacity of insects also depends on other compounds still unknown," adds Serafini.
The results for the insect fat were also impressive.
"The fat of cicadas and giant silkworms showed antioxidant activity twice as high as that of olive oil, while the black tarantula, the palm worm and the black ants are placed at bottom of the rankings. "
bioavailability
The key message from the group is that edible insects such as grasshoppers and silkworms are a rich source of antioxidants.
"High levels of antioxidants in the food matrix are a prerequisite for first screening the antioxidant potential of new foods, so these results are promising."
But the question remains: what are these antioxidants and do they work in humans?
"The in vivo efficacy of antioxidant-rich foods strongly depends on the bioavailability and the presence of a permanent oxidative stress. Thus, in addition to identifying other antioxidant compounds in insects, we need targeted studies on the intervention to clarify their antioxidant effects in humans.
"In the future, we could also adapt our diets to the breeding of insects in order to increase their antioxidant content for animal or human consumption."
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Please link to the original research article in your report: https: /
Corresponding author: Prof. Mauro Serafini, [email protected]
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