Czech J. Food Sci., 2022, 40(1):51-60 | DOI: 10.17221/86/2021-CJFS

Evaluation of soybean stinkbug (Riptortus pedestris) powder, as a food ingredient and its nutritional compositionOriginal Paper

Yu Gao¹, Jiajia Xu¹, Meng-Lei Xu^*,2,3, Zijie Wang¹, Jing Yang⁴, Shusen Shi¹

¹ College of Plant Protection, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin, P.R. China

² College of Food Science and Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, P.R. China

³ State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, P.R. China

⁴ Collage of Bio-Resource Science, Dankook University, Cheonan, Chungcheonanam-do, Republic of Korea

Riptortus pedestris is a potential edible insect, and its powder can be considered as an ideal nutrient source. This study sought to determine the nutritive quality of the powder from Riptortus pedestris. The protein and crude fat content of dried R. pedestris powder were 77.61 g 100 g^-1 and 18.01 g 100 g^-1, respectively. It contained 18 amino acids and 6 fatty acids comparable to eggs and soybean. The total essential amino acid contents could meet the requirement of preschool children and adults. The unsaturated fatty acid content in R. pedestris powder was comparatively more than saturated fatty acid content. Essential unsaturated fatty acids content, especially linoleic acid, was quite high than egg or some other edible stinkbugs. Additionally, R. pedestris powder was rich in various mineral substances, and the macro-element and micro-element contents were more balanced than other edible stinkbugs. These results suggest that R. pedestris powder could be a highly nutritious, alternative novel nutrition source for humans.

Keywords: edible insect; nutrition; insect use; entomophagy

Published: February 24, 2022  Show citation