There are over 2,000 species of insects that have been identified as safe for human consumption: Says researchers
With the idea that insects may serve as an alternative for direct human consumption in the future, scientists at West Virginia University in the US are determining the nutritional and functional properties of protein for cricket, locust and silk worm pupae powders, therefore laying a foundation to develop efficient protein isolation techniques.
“We have a patent on a protein isolation procedure. We use our patented technique to isolate protein and then we also learn about properties of isolated protein and how it can be potentially used in food for human consumption”, said the researchers.
To make eating the insects more appealing, researchers suggest turning the insect into powder. This method is similar to how humans process grains into flour to make it more edible.
In their study, researchers have found that protein can be efficiently isolated from insects using pH-solubility-precipitation, resulting in isolates with high nutritional and functional quality.