Peer reviewed / Manuscript (original) received: 01 December 2021 / Revision accepted: 01 March 2022
Introduction
Insects are an important part of the human diet in many countries around the world, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Approximately two billion people eat insects as part of their diet globally [1]. Using insects as food could help to secure the food supply of the growing global population, as this approach offers certain advantages over current agricultural practices in industrialized countries. These advantages vary depending on the insect species being considered, but they generally include reduced space requirements for rearing the animals, lower water requirements, less greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions, and improved feed conversion rates [1].
Over the past few years, there have been increasing efforts to breed and process insects as food in Europe and to establish legislation for this purpose there. Although there are more than 2,000 edible insect species [e1], only a few species are currently being focused on for commercial use as food. These include mealworms (Tenebrio molitor), buffalo worms (Alphitobius diaperinus), house crickets (Acheta domesticus), tropical house crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus), European migratory locusts (Locusta migratoria) and black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) [2]. …
Abstract
Interest in insects as novel foods is also growing in Europe. Although around a quarter of the world’s population consumes insects as part of their traditional diet, mealworms were the first insects to be approved as a foodstuff in the European Union in 2021. The male larvae of the honey bee, drone brood, are also edible insects with great potential. To date, beekeepers have mostly disposed of drone brood as part of measures to control the bee parasite Varroa destructor (varroa mite). However, due to its nutritional composition and appealing sensory characteristics, drone brood can be used as food in a variety of ways. This review article summarizes information on past and potential future uses of drone brood as food and the associated risks.
Keywords: honey bee drone brood, edible insects, novel foods, entomophagy
