Expert: in the near future insects will appear on our menu

It is possible that insects on our plates are the future, and not necessarily a distant one; they are cheaper than beef, and their breeding does not burden the environment as much as the breeding of slaughter animals, according to Dr. Anna Zolnierczyk of Wroclaw University of Life Sciences.

Scientists from Wroclaw University publish material on edible insectsoin Atlas Resourceoin Open Science (AZON). This is an online, publicly accessible information platform. It is being developed as part of the e-scienceplus Active Information Platform project.pl at the Center for Knowledge and Technical Science (CWiNT) of the Wroclaw University of Technology. Partners in the AZON project are other Wroclaw universities: the Academy of Physical Education, the University of Life Sciences, the Medical University and the Institute of Systems Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences from Warsaw.

Dr. Anna Zolnierczyk of the Department of Biotechnology and Food Sciences at the University of Life Sciences stressed that insects are now part of the daily diet of residentso80 percent. countryoin the world. – These are the countries of the r beltovents, much warmer than our. The insects are eating in Asia, Central and South America, Australia, Oceania and Africa. As you can see, we are in the minority on this issue,” Dr. Zolnierczyk told PAP.

According to the scientist, it is not impossible that insects on the plates of the Europeanow will appear in the near future. The expert points out that – firstly – breeding insectow is cheaper than beef, for example. – Secondly, when growing them, large amounts of gas are not emitted into the atmosphereoin greenhouse gases or ammonia, which inevitably accompanies large cattle farms. Thirdly, in view of the lack of potable water in many parts of the world, it is also of considerable importance that insects need water much less than any other large animal, she stressed.

Dr. Zolnierczyk zwroshe pointed out the nutritional value of insect meat. – Insects have much more protein than fat in poroIn comparison, for example, with beef. The larvae will have more fat than adult insects, but still less than other types of meat,” she said. Therefore, according to her, foods with insects are dietary because they are less caloric.

The specialist added that currently the co-ohe researchers from the Wroclaw University of Technology are working on a project thatoThe aim of the article is to study the bioavailability of such elementsow like calcium or iron in insect meat.

TalkoIn doing so, the PAP contributor noted that we are already eating products derived from insects, albeit unconsciouslyow. – Insects are used in the food industry, such as the dye E120, or cochineal, whichory yields a beautiful red color, and is formed from bugsow – Juneoin cacti. It is added to beveragesoin whether pureedoin fruiting – reminded.

As an example of dishes made from insectsow or other invertebratesow served toffee with earthworms and brownie with whitefly larvae. – First, after collection, the earthworms were starved, then cooked and blended. ZaroBoth the candy and the brownie were tasty. We need to roalso have in mind that the conductod food insectow are populated by microorganisms and parasites, whichoThe products can be dangerous for us, so microbiological control is necessary, as in the case of all productsoin food,” she said.

Scientific materials, whichore are made available within AZON, were created during research, educational and popularization activities. The collections are integrated and prepared so that they are easy to search, use and utilize, such as. in science or business.