Utilization of Edible Insects as Food and Feed with Emphasis on the Red Palm Weevil

Traditionally, overRed palm weevil 2000 edible insectEdible insects species are utilized as food in AfricaAfrica, Asia, and South America. Edible insectsEdible insects as novel foodNovel food can meet the amino acid requirement for humans and thus contribute very much in the global food securityGlobal food security. EntomophagyEntomophagy is not a new and it has been practiced for a long time ago. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAOFood and Agriculture Organization (FAO)) of the United NationsUnited Nations (UN) is advocating the use of edible insectsEdible insects as an alternative to conventional sources of proteins for alleviating malnutrition and enhancing the livelihood of poor communities. The reasons are that edible insectsEdible insects have high feed conversion ratios, require less space for farming, need low investmentInvestment capital, and emit low level of greenhouseGreenhouse gases. So far, the European commission authorized four insect species as novel foodNovel food for humans and as animal feedAnimal feed in the European Union. These are the yellow mealworm Tenebrio molitor L., the house cricketHouse cricket Acheta domesticus (L.), the migratory locustMigratory locust Locusta migratoria (L.) and the lesser mealwormLesser mealworm Alphitobium diaperinus (Panzer). The European Food safetyFood safety Authority assessed them as safe for human consumptionConsumption. This chapter summarizes the reasons favoring the consumptionConsumption of insects, their nutritional compositionNutritional composition, farming and mass rearingMass rearing, harvesting from the wild and legislative measures of commercialization and processingProcessing.