Nutritive evaluations of laboratory-reared edible field cricket Coiblemmus compactus Chopard, 1928 (Orthoptera: Gryllidae), for utilising them as an alternate protein source

Abstract

Abstract Background The increasing world population has made researchers to explore and validate alternate food sources for the future; in that regard, due to the attractive nutritive profile, edible insects ensure the food and feed security in some developing countries. Crickets are orthopteran edible insects widely eaten around the world not as an emergency food but as a delicacy. This present study aims to stabilise a mass rearing technique of field cricket Coiblemmus compactus using cost-effective rearing medium and feed materials. Results The reared adult crickets were processed and analysed for its proximate, mineral, amino acid, fatty acid and energy contents. The cost-effective rearing methods were standardised for the cricket species, and the obtained nutritive values were comparatively higher than other edible meat sources. The cricket Coiblemmus compactus had 50.2 ± 0.37, 26.50 ± 0.80, 8.20 ± 1.61, 5.50 ± 0.48, 10.93 ± 0.19 and 5.40 ± 0.16 g/100 g of crude protein, crude fat, carbohydrate, crude fibre, moisture and ash contents, respectively. The cricket also possessed higher amounts of potassium (897.83 ± 1.55 mg/100 g) and phosphorous elements (604.66 ± 4.11 mg/100 g) with 458.30 ± 0.29 kcal/100 g of energy content. The chromatography studies showed the abundance of amino acid and fatty acid contents in the reared edible cricket. Conclusions The attractive and high-protein nutritive profile of edible cricket Coiblemmus compcatus makes itself an alternate food and feed material to elevate food crisis in developing countries.