As the global population continues to grow, the shortage of nutritional resources such as protein is becoming increasingly serious. It is reported that 1/5 of the world's population faces protein deficiency. China belongs to the type of "high-grain diet", which is significantly backward in terms of protein consumption level, only half of that of developed countries, and even slightly lower than the average of third world countries. Therefore, finding new protein and nutritional resources has become a major task that needs to be solved urgently in China.

01 There are many types of edible insects

The planet is a diverse and abundant number of insects, and its biomass is more than 10 times that of other animals combined. Studies have shown that insects are rich in protein, amino acids and a variety of trace elements, especially the high content of amino acids required by the human body, and the fats are mainly unsaturated fatty acids and saturated fatty acids, which are easy to be digested and absorbed; In addition, insects are also rich in a variety of bioactive substances, which play an important role in regulating human physiological functions. Therefore, insects are not only able to provide humans with high-quality protein, but also use insects to develop functional foods. As early as 1980, the Fifth Latin American Congress of Nutritionists and Dietitians called for insects as one of the food sources to compensate for the lack of human food. Insect resources are renewable resources, and many insects are easy to be artificially cultivated on a large scale, and have great potential for development. At present, many countries have attached great importance to the development of insect protein and its nutritional resources.

02 China has a long history of insectivory

Humans have a long history of using insects as food. In China, as early as more than 3,000 years ago, ant sauce was listed as the emperor's imperial food; The consumption of locusts has been recorded in the 5th century BC. In Yunnan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and other places in China, the habit of eating termites, dragon lice, turtles, ants, and lychee tsubaki elephants can often be seen in folk customs; The Beijing-Tianjin region loves fried locusts, and places such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang eat silkworm pupa. In addition, Northeast China, Hebei, Henan, Anwei, Shandong, Jiangsu and other places also eat bean moth larvae, pupae and grasshoppers, and some places like to eat housefly larvae (granulation), bee larvae, pupa, ant eggs, bamboo elephants and grubs. According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 100 kinds of insects traditionally eaten in various parts of China. In foreign countries, Mexico, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Japan and other countries also have the custom of eating insects, especially Mexico, known as the hometown of insect food, with up to 385 species of insects eaten. According to a 1975 survey by the International Committee of the Red Cross, it was found that millions of Africans depend on insects and plant roots for their livelihoods. On May 26, 1992, the American Gathering of Entomologists celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Entomological Society of New York with an insect banquet. In 1996, at the insect industrialization conference held by the Chinese Entomological Society in Wuhan, 15 insect dishes such as chicken flower steak (locust), dry shrimp (mealworm), fried golden bean (silkworm pupa), jade shoot hemp fruit (fly maggot) and Chang'e water (male silkworm) were put on the banquet, and these dishes were delicious and well received by the delegates.

03 Edible insects are nutritious

With the research and publicity of entomologists and the continuous improvement of insect breeding technology, people's attitude towards edible insects is gradually shifting from traditional use to development and utilization. In foreign countries, insect farms, insect restaurants, insect food processing factories and insect food processing companies have emerged one after another, the insect industry is booming, and commercial insect food is rapidly moving to the market. In China, some companies such as Shenyang Feilong Company, Shandong Yutai Fried Golden Cicada Factory, Hebei Ant Products Factory, Beijing Ant Store, Wuhan Canglong Company, etc., have processed and produced insect food. In addition, many cities have bee product companies and bee product sales stores. Insect nutrition and health care products that have been reported in China include: queen bee larval protein powder, amino acid nutrient solution, royal jelly freeze-dried powder, honey, drone pupa wine, tussah silkworm pupa and larval protein powder, amino acid nutrient solution, canned silkworm pupa food, silkworm pupa soy sauce, protein bread, silkworm pupa biscuits, silk protein, beverages, jelly, silkworm moth oil, Jianli tonic wine and longevity treasure protection liquid; In addition, there are ant male wind wine, Qiankun ant wine, ant king wine, morphant longevity tea, Chinese ant king wine, spring strong oral liquid, Xuanjuchun oral liquid, Henglibao ant powder, termite ironing and so on. Specifically, products such as Harbin's Chinese Ant King Wine have even entered the international market. In 1987, Baoding, Hebei Province also signed a contract with Japan to export 28 tons of locusts. Jilin sells 350 tons of silkworm pupae every year, and Guangdong also exports a large number of Chinese rice locusts to Japan. In foreign countries, a large insect restaurant has been established in Paris, France, and a variety of insect dishes have been launched; A large restaurant in London uses fly maggots to make a famous lion snake-style salad; In Japan, maggot powder is used to make aged pastry; The Coca-Cola Company in the United States uses 3% worms to make baby biscuits. Practice has proved that the development of insect food is conducive to the rational utilization of insect resources, the combination of pest control and pest utilization, and can achieve significant economic and social benefits. With the continuous development of the market economy, people's awareness of the importance of developing insect food is increasing, and the insect industry is expected to usher in a more vigorous development. It is foreseeable that insect food will become an important part of human food.