9 insects we will eat in the future

There are more and more people in the world, and land suitable for agriculture and grazing continues to be depleted. How to avoid hunger? Don't Worry, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations found elegant way to solve the problem and suggested mass growing and eating insects.

Judge for yourself: they are incredibly nutritious, rich in protein, reproduce extremely quickly and are much less whimsical about the conditions of detention than cattle. Insect food is lean and does not cause heart disease like red meat. And their breeding does not cause much harm to the environment.

Here are some great bugs that are sure to find their place in the diet of the future.

1. mopane caterpillars

These are the larvae of the so-called emperor moth, or the South African peacock-eye. Cans of mopane caterpillars can be found in rural supermarkets and markets in South Africa. There they are considered a delicacy and cost four times more than meat.

Caterpillar-eating people in Botswana notethat the heads are on the right: they are tasteless. But the little bodies are wonderfully good - especially with onions, tomatoes, spices, pasta or sadza. They are eaten fried, smoked and dried. They also make soup.

Dried caterpillars can be eaten as snacks by dipping them in ketchup. In this case, you will feel the taste of the leaves in their stomach - it is somewhat reminiscent of tea leaves.

Dried caterpillars can keep for several months and are an extremely nutritious food. in beef, For example, contains only 6 mg of iron per 100 g of dry weight. But the caterpillars offer much more - 31 mg. In addition, they are full of potassium, sodium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, manganese and copper.

Finally, silk is also made from cocoons of caterpillars, which means that this is a valuable species for both the food and textile industries.

2. Chapulin grasshoppers

These are grasshoppers of the genus Sphenarium that live in southern Mexico. They usually live in fields with alfalfa and other similar crops, and in agriculture they are considered pests. But they also found a useful application: insects fry, and then gnaw literally like seeds. However, they are much more useful than the latter, because they are a rich source of protein.

Grasshoppers can be seasoned with garlic, lime juice, salt, guacamole, or chili.

Especially often these insects are used as a snack at various sporting events. Watching yourself football, you gnaw grasshoppers - beauty.

3. Vichetti larvae

Codling moth caterpillars are a favorite dish of the Australian Aborigines. Interestingly, the word "vicetti" is also used to refer to the larvae of cosid butterflies, ghost butterflies and longhorn beetles. Moreover, these different species are very similar in taste, because they feed on the same types of wood. Or rather, the roots of eucalyptus and black acacia.

Vichetti larvae are very healthy, as they are high in oleic acid and omega-9. They taste raw remind almonds, and when cooked on the coals become crispy and fragrant, like the skin of a tender fried chicken.

4. termites

Many consider termites to be harmful insects that gnaw on floorboards and books, but in Asia, South America and Africa, these creatures are eaten with appetite. They can be fried, dried in the sun, steamed and even smoked - a traditional recipe suggests hanging insects over smoldering banana leaves.

After cooking, termites acquire a pleasant nutty flavor.

These creatures contain up to 38% protein, and one Venezuelan species, Syntermes aculeosus, can provide you with as much as 64%. The perfect food for a bodybuilder! Termites are also full of iron, calcium, essential fatty acids and amino acids such as tryptophan.

By the way, you don’t need to fry these insects in oil: their bodies produce own substance similar to it. One less carcinogen!

Harvesting termites is very easy. We put a lamp on the veranda during the rainy season, insects fight against it, and you can harvest. True, it is not very convenient to peel off the wings by hand - but in South America they have adapted to remove them with the help of agricultural winnowers.

By the way, in Australia, the natives know that termites are in theory edible, but do not use them for food. And scientists still don't understand why. They don't ignore moths.

5. cockroaches

Relatives of termites, which are also quite edible. Dennis Oonincks, an entomologist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, once figured outhow much methane, ammonia and carbon dioxide are produced by pigs and cows. He compared this to the amount of waste products of five species of insects, which can also be eaten.

It turned out that the most environmentally friendly food among them is a cockroach. Eat them and stop global warming.

Of course, it is better not to put domestic Prussians in your mouth, because they can carry various dangerous bacteria and viruses. But you can eat farm-raised insects - so arrive in Thailand, China and Mexico.

You only need to remove the heads and legs, and the rest can be boiled, stewed, grilled, salted, dried or diced. And if cockroaches are fried in a wok with oil, they will become crispy, and their insides will resemble cottage cheese in texture and taste. Great food rich in protein.

Besides, cockroaches pretty easy to breed. They can be fed with waste from other industries - for example, potato and pumpkin peels.

And the American cockroach has extremely developed taste and sense of smell, which allows him to avoid poisonous food. A powerful immune system protects him from most known diseases. This means that we have a species that is promising for animal husbandry, which can be grown without the abuse of antibiotics.

6. African palm weevil

palm weevil larvae considered a delicacy among many tribes. These ten-centimeter beetles are easily fried on frying pan without oil because their bodies are full of fat. But even raw they are quite okay.

IN report experts from Ross University reported that the palm weevil contains many benefits - potassium, zinc, iron and phosphorus, amino acids, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. So this is quite a promising product of the future.

7. stink bugs

It would seem that stink bugs are the most unappetizing creatures in the world. Anyone who has ever accidentally popped such a creature into their mouth along with a handful of raspberries knows this. Their truly disgusting taste and smell does not in any way evoke pleasant culinary associations... But this is only because you do not know how to cook them!

Relatives of our local bugs from the order Hemiptera, use in food throughout Asia, South America and Africa. Their foul-smelling secretions come from the glands on their heads, so if you want to eat a beetle raw, you need to rip it off first.

If you are too lazy to decapitate thousands of skunks one by one, you should fry them, soak them in water or dry them in the sun before using them.

Despite the repulsive smell, these beetles contain a lot of protein iron, potassium and phosphorus, as well as tryptophan, riboflavin and niacin.

In Mexico, these babies are called humilis and are valued for their pleasant cinnamon flavor. Sometimes, however, the taste can be bitter, as if medicinal - all because of the presence of iodine in the insect.

8. flour worms

Flour worms eat a slice of an apple. Image: Wikimedia Commons

The larvae of a beetle called "large flour beetle" are traditionally used to feed terrarium reptiles and aquarium fish, as well as bait in fishing. But people can eat them too!

Mealworms are traditionally consumed in many countries of Southeast Asia in baked or fried form. Since 2017 they allowed to be eaten in Switzerland, and from 2021 - throughout the European Union.

They even make hamburgers out of them.

In 100 g of raw mealworm larvae contained 206 kcal and 14 to 25 g of protein. Potassium, copper, sodium, selenium, iron and zinc in them as in beef, and there are even more vitamins. In addition, worms are rich in essential linoleic acids.

Breeding a beetle as easy as pie - on fresh oats, wheat bran or grain, sometimes tossing it with chopped potatoes, carrots or an apple as a source of moisture.

The only but: on the beetle, as well as on other insects, do not do it lean on people with allergies like shrimp because they have similar body chemistry. But this is a rare disease, so don't worry too much.

9. crickets

Finnish company Fazer in Helsinki came up with make flour out of these insects. We take them, grind them, knead the dough, add a little wheat flour and seeds there and get bread for athletes, which is very useful and contains a lot of protein, fatty acids, calcium, iron and vitamin B12. One loaf takes an average of 70 insects.

According to those who tried it, cricket loaves do not differ at all from ordinary ones in taste.

Breeding crickets is much easier than plowing fields for wheat. They can feed on plant material, as well as small invertebrates and soft cadaveric tissues, that is, they can be used to dispose of waste. And the harm to the environment from a cricket farm will be much less than from cutting down hectares of forest for crops.

And by the way, if you are too lazy to grind crickets into flour, you can fry them in olive oil with chili, garlic and other spices and crunch deliciously. And in Texas, of them in general cook snacks with barbecue, sour cream, onion, vinegar and sea salt flavors.