Table_3_The Nutritional Profiles of Five Important Edible Insect Species From West Africa—An Analytical and Literature Synthesis.csv

Background: Undernutrition is a prevalent, serious, and growing concern, particularly in developing countries. Entomophagy—the human consumption of edible insects, is a historical and culturally established practice in many regions. Increasing consumption of nutritious insect meal is a possible combative strategy and can promote sustainable food security. However, the nutritional literature frequently lacks consensus, with interspecific differences in the nutrient content of edible insects generally being poorly resolved.
Aims and methods: Here we present full proximate and fatty acid profiles for five edible insect species of socio-economic importance in West Africa: Hermetia illucens (black soldier fly), Musca domestica (house fly), Rhynchophorus phoenicis (African palm weevil), Cirina butyrospermi (shea tree caterpillar), and Macrotermes bellicosus (African termite). These original profiles, which can be used in future research, are combined with literature-derived proximate, fatty acid, and amino acid profiles to analyse interspecific differences in nutrient content.
Results: Interspecific differences in ash (minerals), crude protein, and crude fat contents were substantial. Highest ash content was found in H. illucens and M. domestica (~10 and 7.5% of dry matter, respectively), highest crude protein was found in C. butyrospermi and M. domestica (~60% of dry matter), whilst highest crude fat was found in R. phoenicis (~55% of dry matter). The fatty acid profile of H. illucens was differentiated from the other four species, forming its own cluster in a principal component analysis characterized by high saturated fatty acid content. Cirina butyrospermi had by far the highest poly-unsaturated fatty acid content at around 35% of its total fatty acids, with α-linolenic acid particularly represented. Amino acid analyses revealed that all five species sufficiently met human essential amino acid requirements, although C. butyrospermi was slightly limited in leucine and methionine content.
Discussion: The nutritional profiles of these five edible insect species compare favorably to beef and can meet human requirements, promoting entomophagy's utility in combatting undernutrition. In particular, C. butyrospermi may provide a source of essential poly-unsaturated fatty acids, bringing many health benefits. This, along with its high protein content, indicates that this species is worthy of more attention in the nutritional literature, which has thus-far been lacking.

背景：营养不足是一种普遍存在且日趋严峻的公共卫生问题，在发展中国家尤为突出。食用昆虫 (Entomophagy)，即人类食用可食用昆虫的行为，是诸多地区历史悠久且已形成文化传统的饮食习俗。增加高营养昆虫食品的消费，是应对该问题的可行策略，有助于推动可持续粮食安全。然而，当前营养学界的相关研究尚未形成共识，可食用昆虫的种间营养成分差异仍有待进一步厘清。

目的与方法：本研究针对西非地区五种具有社会经济重要性的可食用昆虫物种，完整测定了其常规营养成分组成 (proximate profiles) 及脂肪酸组成：亮斑扁角水虻 (Hermetia illucens，黑水虻)、家蝇 (Musca domestica)、非洲棕榈象甲 (Rhynchophorus phoenicis)、乳木果蛾幼虫 (Cirina butyrospermi，乳木树毛虫) 以及大白蚁 (Macrotermes bellicosus，非洲白蚁)。本研究获得的原始营养数据可用于后续相关研究，我们将这些数据与文献中提取的常规营养成分组成、脂肪酸组成及氨基酸组成数据相结合，分析了可食用昆虫的种间营养成分差异。

结果：不同昆虫物种在灰分 (minerals)、粗蛋白质及粗脂肪含量上存在显著差异。亮斑扁角水虻与家蝇的灰分含量最高，分别约占干物质的10%和7.5%；乳木果蛾幼虫与家蝇的粗蛋白质含量最高，约占干物质的60%；而非洲棕榈象甲的粗脂肪含量最高，约占干物质的55%。主成分分析 (principal component analysis) 结果显示，亮斑扁角水虻的脂肪酸组成与其余四个物种差异显著，单独聚为一类，其饱和脂肪酸含量较高。乳木果蛾幼虫的多不饱和脂肪酸 (poly-unsaturated fatty acid) 含量显著最高，约占其总脂肪酸的35%，其中α-亚麻酸 (α-linolenic acid) 的占比尤为突出。氨基酸分析结果表明，五种昆虫均能满足人体必需氨基酸需求，但乳木果蛾幼虫的亮氨酸与甲硫氨酸含量略低于推荐标准。

讨论：这五种可食用昆虫的营养组成与牛肉相当，且可满足人体营养需求，证实了食用昆虫在应对营养不足问题上的应用价值。其中，乳木果蛾幼虫可作为必需多不饱和脂肪酸的优质来源，具备多项健康益处。结合其较高的蛋白质含量，该物种值得营养学界给予更多关注，而目前相关研究仍较为匮乏。