Nutritional Characteristics of Teak Grasshopper (Valanga nigricornis Burmeister), Cricket (Brachytrupes portentosus L.), and Mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) as Alternative Food Sources in Indonesia

Abstract

Insect is one of the alternative food sources which can be easily obtained and cultivated at a lower cost. Food sources must also provide daily nutrition; therefore, this study aims to compare the nutrition of edible insects in Indonesia, namely teak grasshopper (Valanga nigricornis Burmeister), cricket (Brachytrupes portentosus L.), and mealworm (Tenebrio molitor), with cork fish (Chana striata) that has been commonly consumed by the Indonesian people. The highest total protein content (Kjeldahl method) was found for fish (82.69%), while the lower ones were found for grasshopper (72.50%), cricket (59.00%) and mealworm (53.08%). This result was also in line with the total protein content found for fish (11984.00 ppm as the highest) and grasshopper (1016.33 ppm as the lowest). SDS-PAGE result also confirmed the highest protein content for fish where it showed the thickest band intensity for fish sample. Although cricket and mealworm were found to have lower total protein content (proximate assay), their fat and calorie levels were higher with calorie from fat values of 235.35 kcal/100 g for cricket and 195.93 kcal/100 g for mealworm. Proteolytic assay was carried out using papain to compare protein digestibility. The absorbance values from the proteolytic assay of cork fish and mealworm were higher than grasshopper and cricket, indicating that proteins of fish and mealworm were easier to hydrolyze. This could be explained so, that adult insects have a chitin structure that limits the hydrolysis process, or that papain might have a specific recognition sites and it fitted better to the fish and mealworm protein. Thus, each insect sample showed its characteristic nutritional profile and therefore, can be used as alternative food ingredient to meet the needs of protein and fat.