Insect meat as a replacement for

chicken meat
Can insects replace chicken as a meat
source?
By Coen dAncona , Eva Streekstra, Manon Eggink, Michaeline
Anglemire, Rosalie Stoker and Yu Shen
22-1-2016

Summary
Five different edible insect species (house cricket (Acheta domesticus),
grasshopper (Locusta migratoria), yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor), lesser
mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus) and black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia
illucens)) are investigated to evaluate their nutritional composition in order to
examine the viability of one of them acting as a meat alternative. After this
evaluation,the insect best suited to act as a meat replacement will be
determined. Their overall composition as well as micro-nutritional and amino acid
profiles vary, and are dependent upon their origin and rearing method. The
nutritional composition of poultry is also researched and a ranking system is
developed to compare insects with chicken. Yellow mealworm has a lower fat
content than chicken (-6.7%), much higher fibre content (+8.48%), though the
protein content is lower (-6.71%). It has a much better profile in mineral content
than chicken, notably in terms of calcium and iron. Therefore it is believed that
the yellow mealworm can be used as a possible replacement for meat. The
sustainability of insects and poultry is also studied, as insects are more efficient
and sustainable in the aspects of greenhouse gas emission, land usage, and feed
to food conversion. The bioavailability of insects is still in need of more research
to understand the interactions between nutrients and the human body. Overall, it
was determined that the yellow mealworm would be the best insect choice to
replace meat.

Contents
Summary
Introduction
Differences and variation in literature
Human nutrient requirements
Composition of chicken
Composition of insects
Insects as compared to chicken
Sustainability of insects and poultry
Bioavailability
General conclusion
Recommendations
References

Introduction
In 2050, the entire world population will be around 10 billion. In order to feed all
of these people, it is necessary to find sustainable food sources. After an FAO
paper was published in 2013 focusing on insects as a sustainable food source, a
lot of research has been done on this subject. However, there is lack of
information on the sustainability of insects compared to different types of meat.
Due to the fact that poultry is seen as the most sustainable type of meat in
Western countries, this paper will compare poultry to insects and focus on the
nutrient requirements and composition and bioavailability of these nutrients.

Differences and variation in literature

When looking at literature, different nutrient values were found for the same
insects. This section shows some of these differences found in literature for the
following insects: house cricket (Acheta domesticus), grasshopper (Locusta
migratoria), yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor), lesser mealworm (Alphitobius
diaperinus) and black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens).
House cricket
The house cricket (Acheta domesticus) finds it origin from the United States,
where it is reared. All the found results are based on dry matter content.

Table 1: Nutritional composition (%) and energy content (kcal/100g) of edible insects
(based on dry matter).

Big differences on the amino acid content can been found in the study of Finke
(2002) compared with the study of Finke (2007). See Table 2. In 2002, the values
of leucine are much higher than in 2007. For alanine and glutamic acid the value
of the Acheta domesticus (nymphs) are higher in the study of Finke (2007) than
in the study of Finke (2002). All the other values are almost the same in different

studies.
The mineral composition is expressed in mg/100g house cricket (Acheta
domesticus) in Table 3. Finke (2002) found more minerals than Barker et al.
(1998). Also there are changes between results in different studies.
Table 3: Mineral composition (mg/100g) of edible insects (based on dry matter).

In terms of vitamins, Ramos-Elorduy et al. (2007) and Thompson (1973)

investigated the house cricket (Acheta domesticus) originating from Mexico. They
only found Vitamin A and C in the insect. Barker et al. (1998) only found Vitamin
A and E. Finke (2002) did not find Vitamin A, but all other vitamins found are
mentioned in Table 4. The values of the vitamins differs a lot, as illustrated. From
the house cricket (Acheta domesticus) of Mexico, the Vitamin C content is high
4

compared with the content of the United States house cricket (Acheta
domesticus). Vitamins B2, B3 and B7 are high in the adult house cricket (Acheta
domesticus).
Table 4: Vitamin composition of edible insects (based on dry matter).

Grasshopper
There is not a lot of literature be found about the composition of the Grasshopper
(Locusta migratoria). This may due to the fact that these insects have a hard
exoskeleton and that no accurate measurements can be taken.
Wu Leung et al. (1968) measured the grasshopper of Africa in two ways: raw and
grilled. The moisture content of the raw product is 62.7g/100g edible protein,
while in the grilled product it is 7.0 g/100g edible protein. It is evident that the
raw product it is much higher in protein content, while all of the other aspects are
lower in the raw product than in the grilled product. The raw product contains:
170 kcal/100g, 26.8% crude protein, 3.8% total fat, 1.2% ash and 2.4% crude
fiber. The grilled product contains: 420 kcal/100g, 62.2% crude protein, 10.4%
total fat, 4.6% ash and crude fiber is not available. One other study concluded
that raw grasshoppers contain 6.4g/100g dry weight. Only the minerals calcium,
phosphorus and iron are found in the grasshopper. For the raw grasshopper it
contains 107 mg/100g dry matter calcium and 29 mg/100g dry matter iron. The
grilled product contains 190 mg/100g dry matter and 449 mg/100g dry matter
phosphor.
Abdon et al. (1990) measured the grasshopper of the Philippines. The moisture
content of the product is 66.3g/100g edible protein. The other compounds are:
147 kcal/100g, 13.7% crude protein, 4.3% total fat, 2.3% ash and no crude fiber.
Only the minerals calcium and iron are found in the grasshopper. It contains 303
mg/100g dry matter calcium and 3.0 mg/100g dry matter iron.
The nutritional composition in mentioned in table 5 and the mineral contents of
the edible insects are mentioned in table 6.

Table 5: Energy, protein, fat, ash and fibre content of edible insects.

Table 6: Mineral contents (mg/100g dry matter) of edible insects.

Yellow mealworm
Table 7: General composition of yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) from different
literature sources in larvae, adult and pupae stages

Table 8: Micronutrient composition of yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) from

different literature sources in larvae and adult stages

Table 9: Amino acid composition of yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) from different
literature sources in larvae and adult stages

The research on the nutritional composition of yellow mealworms is much more in

depth than that of other insects. As can be seen from Tables 7-9, in different
stages of life the composition of the yellow mealworm is not the same. In general,
in the adult stage, the protein content is higher as well as the calcium content.
However, due to the exoskeleton the adult has, which is not ideal for
consumption, the main focus will be on its larvae stage. InTable 7, it is evident
that the protein content does not vary a lot, generally staying close to around
48%. Yellow mealworm larvae is high in the fat and relatively low in ash and fibre.
The variation of the composition is very much dependent on its origin and rearing
method. There is very little literature which clearly indicates the diet of the
insects and their growth conditions. However, the tables suggested that the
variations of the data are not so large therefore can be seen as valid for further
analysis in this report.

Lesser mealworm
7

Table 10: General composition and amino acid composition of lesser mealworm
(Alphitobius diaperinus) larvae

The lesser mealworm does not have enough research on its nutritional
composition to make it a relevant comparison to the other insects being
discussed. Only one piece of literature was found and, no data on micronutrient
was provided.
Black soldier fly
Table 11: General composition of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) with
different manure as feed

Table 12: Essential amino acids composition of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia
illucens) fed with beef or swine manure (%)

The black soldier fly contains about

42% protein in dry matter, which is a
high-value feed source, and is also high
in calcium and fat. As can be seen in
Tables 11-13, black soldier flies fed with
different diets subsequently changes
the nutritional composition, especially
in terms of fat content, which ranges

from 28% to 35%. Black soldier flies fed with beef results in a better overall
amino acid profile.

Human nutrient requirements

The main focus that should be applied when finding a replacement for chicken
are the nutritional aspects. The human body is of a complex design, and its vast
nutritive requirements reflect its complexity. One of the nutrients most integral to
the bodys function is that of protein. To be more specific, it is the amino acid
profile of protein, rather than the protein itself, that is so essential to the diets of
humans, as there are certain amino acids that the human body cannot
synthesize. These amino acids are aptly referred to as essential amino acids,
and they are as follows: leucine; isoleucine; valine; lysine; threonine; tryptophan;
methionine; phenylalanine; and histidine.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed its recommendation values as
such:
Lysine - 30 mg/day
Leucine - 39 mg/day
Isoleucine - 20 mg/day
Threonine - 15 mg/day
Phenylalanine - 25 mg/day
Tryptophan - 4 mg/day
Methionine - 10.4 mg/day
Histidine - 10 mg/day
Valine - 26 mg/day
All of these amino acids can be found in meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy
products, and are therefore referred to as complete proteins. Vegetable-based
products that contain some, but not all, of these amino acids are referred to as
complementary proteins, for they can form a complete set of amino acids if
certain food items are eaten in combination with each other. The issue at hand is
to analyse the amino acid profiles of various insects against the backdrop of
amino acids essential to human life, which will help to determine which insect
discussed will act as the best meat replacement in the human diet.

Composition of chicken
Currently touted as one of the healthiest meat options fit for human
consumption, chicken meat is lean and a more sustainable dietary option than
that of cows or pigs (Eshel, Makov, Milo, and Shepon 2014). If food technologists
are looking for a replacement for meat in the human diet, as it only makes sense
that the nutritive content of the insects being researched in compared to a meat
that is a staple, and that is also believed to be the most sustainable popular meat
option on the market: chicken.
General Composition
The following table will illustrate the composition of raw broiler chicken meat so
that it might be compared to the composition of the insects currently being
considered to act as a meat replacement on the food market.

Table 14: Composition of raw broiler chicken meat.

Haytowitz, D.B., Ahuja, J.K., Showell, B.A., Somanchi, M., Nickle, M.S., Nyguyen, Q., Williams, J.R., Roseland, J.M.,
Khan, M., Patterson, K., Exler, J., Wasswa-Kintu, S., Thomas, R.G., Pehrsson, P.R. 2015. USDA National Nutrient
Database for Standard Reference, release 28.

10

Amino Acid Composition

The amino acid profile of poultry is important to the understanding of how exactly
meat fits into the average human diet. As previously stated, meat offers a
complete amino acid profile, making it a complete protein. Below is a chart of the
amino acid composition of chicken meat. An analysis of these values when
compared to the nutritive requirements of humans makes it evident that chickens
provide the necessary amino acids in the necessary amounts.
Table 15: Free Amino Acid Content of light Chicken Muscle from Broilers (S.
Wattanachant et al, 2004)).

Now that a suitable comparison for the nutritive composition of insects has been
established, the matter of insect composition must be discussed in greater detail.

Composition of insects
One of the main reasons humans consume meat is because meat contains a high
amount of protein, a complete amino acid profile, in addition to a variety of
minerals. In order to replace this source of protein and minerals, a good
alternative needs to be found, and insects might be able to offer the solution.
Currently there are over 1900 species of insects identified to have been used as a
source of food (van Huis et al, 2013). From these 1900 species, this section will
have a look at the composition of four species: The yellow mealworm (Tenebrio
molitor), the house cricket (Acheta domesticus), the grasshopper (Locusta
migratoria) and the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens). The lesser mealworm will
not be discussed by this paper due to a lack of literature findings. The general
composition, the mineral composition, and the amino acid composition will be
discussed.
General composition
Like all animals, insects are made up of five elements: Moisture, protein, fat,
carbohydrates (NFE and fibres) and ash. Table 16 shows the composition of the
11

four previously mentioned insects. The yellow mealworm and the black soldier fly
compositions shown are those of larvae. The house crickets composition is
shown for both the nymph form and the adult form since both are consumed.
Finally, the grasshoppers composition is of the adult grasshopper. The table has
been made compiled from data of different sources, and different styles were
used. Some sources used the dry matter content while others also calculated the
moisture. The numbers in between brackets are the same values for the insects
but calculated without the moisture content.
Note: Not all numbers from the insects add up to 100%. When the total is lower than
100%, it is because the paper did not research the fibre and NFE content and also may
be due to measurement inaccuracies; when the total is higher than 100%, it is due
exclusively to measurement inaccuracies.

Table 16 illustrates that within the different species of insects, as well as within
the same species, values of the general composition are different. Within the
species, this can be due to the different feed the animals received as well as the
different life stages they were in. Even though the values are different for each
insect, it is clear that the dry matter of insects is high in protein (40-70%), can be
quite fatty (15-40%) and contains little digestible carbohydrates. They do
however contain quite a high amount of fibres (up to 20%)

12

Table : General composition of four popular insects (Aango Gutierrez et al. (2004), Newton et al. (1977), Bukkens
(1997), Rumpold & Schluter(2013), Bednarova et al. (2013))

13

Micronutrient composition
Like other sources of protein, insects also contain minerals in certain amounts.
The table below shows the content of these micronutrients in the dry matter of
insects, as found in literature.
Table 17: Micronutrient composition of four popular insect species ( (Aango Gutierrez et al. (2004),
Newton et al. (1977), Bukkens (1997), Rumpold & Schluter(2013), Bednarova et al. (2013))

Amino acid composition

Insects contain, contrary to some of worlds staple foods like maize and potatoes
(van Huis et al, 2013), a complete amino acid profile. Insects contain high
amounts of certain essential amino acids, as depicted in Table 18:

14

Table 18: Amino acid composition of four popular insect species ( (Aango Gutierrez et al.
(2004), Newton et al. (1977), Bukkens (1997), Rumpold & Schluter(2013), Bednarova et
al. (2013)) YMW= yellow mealworm, HCA = House cricket adult, HCN = House cricket
nymph, GH = Grasshopper

mg/gram
protein
Alanine

YMW
YMW
YMW3
HCA
Average
HCN
1
2

Average
1
HCA2 2
HCN1 2
80.5
74.5
82.4
79.13
87.8
76.9
82.35
89
101.

Arginine
Aspartic acid
Cystine
Glutamic acid
Glycine
Histidine
Isoleucine
Leucine
Lysine
Methionine
Phenylalanine
Proline
Serine
Threonine
Tryptophan
Tyrosine
Valine

60.3

56

51.9

56.07

61

57.3

59.15

61

70.

10.9
132.8
59.8
37.9
49.4
82.2
64.9
19.5
43.7
74.1
54.6
40.8
10.3
79.9
69

8.2
123.9
53.8
35.3
46.7
77.7
60.9
14.1
40.8
65.8
49.5
34.8
9.2
77.7
66.3

8.6
112.8
55.6
30.5
50.3
106.4
54.5
12.8
35.3
69.5
51.3
41.8
8
74.5
58.8

9.23
123.17
56.40
34.57
48.80
88.77
60.10
15.47
39.93
69.80
51.80
39.13
9.17
77.37
64.70

8.3
104.9
50.7
23.4
45.9
100
53.7
14.6
31.7
56.1
49.8
36.1
6.3
48.8
52.2

9.8
104.4
45.3
22.7
36.4
66.7
51.1
19.6
30.2
54.2
52
31.1
7.9
44
48.4

9.05
104.65
48
23.05
41.15
83.35
52.4
17.1
30.95
55.15
50.9
33.6
7.1
46.4
50.3

8.4
103.9
52.6
22.1
42.9
95.5
53.9
13
27.9
55.2
41.6
35.7
5.2
55.2
49.4

9.
117.
60.
25.
40.
72.
62.
15.
3
61.
42.
38.
6.
62.
6

total

970.6

895.2

905

923.60

831.3

758

794.65

812.5

879.

15

Insects as compared to chicken

Taking into account all information provided on the two different food sources, a
deeper analysis of what these differences mean in context must be conducted in
order to determine which type of insect would act as the best meat replacement.
General nutrient composition - Macronutrients
In order to determine which insect will be able to act as the best meat
replacement, we will be evaluating which insect is compositionally the most
similar to that of chicken. Listed below is a table detailing the numerical
differences between the nutrient content of a given insect and the corresponding
nutrient content of chicken. Each insect is then subsequently ranked based upon
this value, as this value represents just how different the nutrient composition of
an insect is from that of its chicken meat counterpart; the greater the value (in
either the positive or negative direction), the more dissimilar the insect is
compositionally from chicken. A positive value indicates the nutrient is present in
higher amounts in insects than in chicken, while a negative value indicates a
nutrient is present in a lesser amount in insects than in chicken. This is the most
efficient manner to measure the ability of an insect to replace meat, as we have
chosen chicken to represent the standard to which the nutritive content of the
insects in question may be compared. It is to be noted that all values in the table
have been calculated in the percentage present in dry matter, with moisture
having been accounted for and subsequently eliminated for the sake of looking
exclusively at the nutrient content.
Table 19: Ranking of insects by comparing their macronutrient composition

Nutrient

Insect

Quantity
(Chicken)

Quantit
y

Difference (InsectChicken)

Rank

55.06

Yellow
Mealworm

48.35

-6.71

Cricket Adult

67.23

+12.17

Cricket
Nymph

68.91

+13.85

Grasshopper

60.33

+5.27

Black soldier
fly

42.31

-12.75

44.58

Yellow
Mealworm

38.51

-6.07

Cricket Adult

21.14

-23.44

Cricket

16.08

-28.50

Protein

Fat

16

Nymph
Grasshopper

15.48

-29.10

Black soldier
fly

25.31

-19.27

0.00

Yellow
Mealworm

8.48

+8.48

Cricket Adult

19.18

+19.18

Cricket
Nymph

15.32

+15.32

Grasshopper

18.47

+18.47

Black soldier
fly

7.00

+7.00

Fibre

A general analysis of these values leads one to conclude that certain insect
species (adult cricket, cricket nymph, and grasshopper) contain more protein
than chicken meat. All insect varieties contained less fat than chicken meat, just
as all varieties contained more fibre (chicken contained none).
Table 20: Ranking of insects by bases of their macronutrient rank scores

Insect

Protein
rank

Lipid
rank

Fibre
rank

Tota
l

Yellow
mealworm

Cricket adult

11

Cricket
nymph

12

Grasshopper

10

Black soldier
fly

In evaluating the comprehensive rankings of the insects, it can be deduced that

the yellow mealworm is the most similar to chicken in macronutrient composition.
Therefore, as we have established the criteria of the best meat replacement to
be the insect that is most similar to chicken, we can conclude that the insect with
the best micronutrient content is the yellow mealworm.
Minerals

17

Micronutrients play an important role of our diet: they function as essential parts
for our enzymes, strengthen our bones and are an important parts of our cells
(Shenkin, 2006).
Comparing the tables of the mineral content of insects and chickens results in the
following conclusions: All four investigated insects contain over 10 times as much
calcium as chicken meat. Additionally the iron content, phosphorus content,
potassium content, sodium content, magnesium content and zinc content are
much higher in all of the researched insects.
Because most of these values are superior in amounts than in chicken there
might be a risk of exceeding the recommended daily amount for these minerals.
The RDIs are as follows (voedingscentrum, 2015):
Table 21: Recommended daily intakes of micronutrients for humans

18

Table : Comparison micronutrients of chicken and insects

19

When taking in account that on average people in Europe consume 23 kilos of

chicken per year (Avec, 2014), which is 60 grams per day, the only minerals that
may be over consumed are zinc and copper. Additionally, ones magnesium
intake might be exceeded when consuming a large amount of yellow mealworms,
which might result in diarrhoea (voedingcentrum, 2015). Additionally, according
to the Voedingscentrum, a high intake of zinc may interfere with copper
absorption, which is associated with anaemia and osteoporosis. However, insects
also contain a lot of copper, so this should not be a problem, although a high
intake of copper may also result in diarrhoea or nausea.
As shown in Table 23, scores have been assigned to the insects based on how
much they resemble chicken meat (with the exception of manganese and copper,
for which no chicken values were found). For these two values, scores have been
assigned to the insect that came the closest to the RDI. The scores can be found
in the table below. How these scores came to be can be found in the annex.
Table 23: Finals ranks of insects based on their micronutrients

Amino acids
As shown in Table 22, in most cases with amino acids insects contain equal or
higher amounts than chicken meat does. Since about half of the amino acids can
be synthesised by the body itself, this part will focus on the essential amino acids
only: Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Threonine,
Tryptophan and Valine. In terms of Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Threonine and
Valine both insects and chicken have high enough amounts to fulfill the
recommended daily intake values. In these cases the insects also contain
superior amounts of these amino acids. In terms of Methionine, both chicken and
insects also contain enough to fulfil the RDI, but in this case all insects have
somewhat lower amounts of this amino acid. The final two essential amino acids,
Phenylalanine and Tryptophan, are not present enough in chicken and fall short of
the RDI at a consumption of 100 grams per day. All the insects contain plenty of
these amino acids.
Even though the insects seem far superior to chicken regarding amino acids, one
should take in account that an excessive amount of certain amino acid intake
may be dangerous. In the past, a lot of animal testing has been done (Harper et
al, 1970) and showed, for example, that excessive amounts of Phenylalanine
intake can cause growth depression in rats, high amounts of Tyrosine caused liver
problems and death in rats, and excessive Tryptophan intake showed a high
mortality rate in cows. However, these conditions were only tested animals.
Furthermore, in these tests the test animals
were fed a high amounts of one specific amino acid with a low amount of other
amino acids in their diet. When consuming insects or chicken, amino acid toxicity
is unlikely to happen.

20

Table 24: Comparison of amino acid composition of chicken and insects

21

According to how much the insects resemble the amino acid composition of
chicken the insects, have been scored from the best (1) to the worst (4). How
these scores came to be can be found in the annex.
Table 25: Ranking of insects based on their amino acid composition

Best insect
If we add all the scores for the different aspects of nutrition of the insects, the
following scores were found:
Table 26: Final scores of insects based on their nutritional composition

As the table above shows the yellow mealworm is the most ideal replacer of
chicken meat in the human diet. It is followed by the adult cricket, the
grasshopper and finally the cricket nymph and the black soldier fly.

Sustainability of insects and poultry

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Important factors for determining the sustainability of a product are global
warming potential (GWP), water footprint, land use and energy use per kg of
edible protein1.
Table 27: The sustainability characteristics of insects, poultry, pigs and cattle

Characteristic of sustainability

Insec
ts

Poultr
y

Pigs

Cattle

Feed to food conversion (kg/kg)

1.7

2.5

10

Greenhouse emission (g GHG/kg)

<100

1100

2800

Indirect greenhouse emission (mg

NH3/day/kg)

<150

1100

22

Global warming potential (kg CO2/kg

protein)

20

20-40

20-50

75170

Water use (l)

<230
0

2300

3500

22,00
0

Land use (m2/kg protein)

20

50

50

150250

Energy use (MJ/kg protein)

170

80150

100250

170280

As shown in Table 27, the sustainability characteristics of insects, poultry, pigs

and cattle were compared. The feed to food conversion has a large difference as
insects are at least 68% more efficient than poultry, even more so than pigs and
cattle. The greenhouse emission represents the potential of global warming which
will be further discussed in the next part. Still, from the table it is clear that
insects produce much less greenhouse gases than the other three primary meat
sources, directly or indirectly. The differences in water and energy usage are not
significant when compared with poultry, but in the aspect of land use, insects
continue to be the most sustainable and efficient.
Unlike livestock, insects do not regulate their body temperature within a small
temperature range, therefore it is believed that a greater percentage of their food
intake is spent on growth. Poultry is a relatively sustainable protein source
compared to pigs and cattle, despite the fact that insects still have the edge on
greenhouse emission, land usage, and, most importantly, feed to food
conversion. This may due to the fact that they are able to be fed on a wide range
of feed and the minimal time investment required to raise them in large numbers.
Global warming potential
Since global warming is becoming more and more of an issue, it is important to
take action and have detailed information on the emission rates of different
sections of the food chain. The global warming potential is a relative measure for
the amount of heat greenhouse gases (GHGs) trap into the atmosphere. These
gases are based on the heat absorbing ability compared to CO 2.
The conversion factor to CO2-eq is 1 for CO2, 25 for CH4 and N2O is 2982.
Table 28: Greenhouse gases emission in different insect species

Species

CO2 (g/kg
BM/day)

CH4 (g/kg
BM/day)

N2O (mg/kg
BM/day)

NH3 (mg/kg
BM/day)

Tenebrio
molitor

0.450.04

0.000.002

1.50.13

0.00.09

Acheta
domesticus

0.050.04

0.000.002

0.10.13

5.43.40

Locusta
migratoria

2.374.02

0.000.017

8.013.50

5.41.65

23

All data: Environmental Impact of the Production of Mealworms as a Protein Source for Humans A
Life Cycle Assessment
Dennis G. A. B. Oonincx1,* and Imke J. M. de Boer2

It is important to consider these factors in addition to the nutritional composition

of insects when determining which insect would act as the best meat
replacement. Every piece of insect-related nutritive data has been compared to
chickens, so it would only make sense that, as poultry was previously discussed
to be the most sustainable product on the meat market at the present time, we
compare the environmental footprint of insects to that of poultry, as well.

Bioavailability
The bioavailability of nutrients is a measurement of how well a nutrient is
absorbed and used within the human body. There is little known about this
subject in terms of insects, and a lot of research needs to be conducted to find
out more detailed information. Some research has, however, been done on the
nutrient composition of a few different species of insects, as well as some on
poultry.
Bioavailability of insects
In one of the articles, there were details of a study conducted using 85 different
edible insect varieties and their mineral composition in comparison to the
recommended daily intake for adults based on mg/100 grams dry matter. As a
result, it was said that only the larvae of a housefly would contain enough
calcium to meet the required amount for adults. The required amount of
potassium will not be reached in any of the insects. Although, about half of the
analysed insects contains the required amount of phosphates. Some insects like
Orthoptera are especially rich in magnesium, something only 30% of all insect
varieties sufficiently contain. Generally insects are low in sodium, except for
caterpillars. The required amount of iron in humans differs largely between
persons, depending on bioavailability, age, and sex, and thus varies very widely.
No statement can be made about the bioavailability of iron in insects, so the
highest required amount of iron in insects (58.5 mg/day) to meet the human
recommendations will be assumed. The highest required amount of iron for a
healthy adult is 9 mg/day. This makes only 10 species of the analysed insects
contain the required amount of iron. However, insect are known for containing
more iron and calcium than beef, pork, and poultry. Also insect consumption is
known for decreasing iron and zinc deficiencies in developing countries (1).
Looking at the vitamin requirements for adults, insects are rich in riboflavin,
pantothenic acid and biotin, and some are also rich in folic acid. Nevertheless,
insects are not an efficient source for Vitamin A, Vitamin C, niacin, and thiamine.
There is not much known about the bioavailability of these nutrients on their own.
All these statements are made out of expectations based on the bioavailability of
different meat sources. It is assumed that an animal is a good nutritional source if
a nutrient is found in a high concentration within that animal, but in the case of
iron, for example, there are different isotopes which all have their own
bioavailabilities.
A lot of research needs to be conducted regarding the bioavailability of nutrients
in insects in the human body in order to determine which nutrients from insects
are predicted to be a good nutrient source for humans. Insects are known for
having high energy and protein content, and meet the amino acid
24

recommendations for humans (1). They are also rich in MUFA and PUFA, and rich
in many micronutrients and vitamins. However, the nutritional value of insects
highly depends on metamorphic stage of the insect, as well as the diet. The
mineral and vitamin content is highly variable across species and orders. Also,
consuming the whole insect will provide a higher amount of micronutrients than
eating individual insects parts (2).
Bioavailability of poultry
Although poultry is a more recognised meat source in Western countries, there is
still little known about the uptake of the different nutrients within the human
body.
There is some available information about iron, as it is one of the most important
minerals. Low iron levels are found in women, the elderly, and vegetarians. This
can result in less strength in the muscles, as well as an inefficient energy
metabolism and reduced endurance.
Around 40% of the iron in poultry is in the efficiently absorbed heme form, Fe2+
[1]. Heme iron is mainly found in red meat and nonheme iron in plant-based
products like beans. The bioavailability of heme iron is 2-7 fold higher than
nonheme iron. Meat also works as a meat-factor, which means that it is
enhancing the uptake of iron from other products[2]
Calcium uptake in the human body is mostly from dairy products like milk and
fermented yogurt. Only 3% of the daily calcium recommendation comes from
meat, poultry and fish. Calcium is an important nutrient for the circulatory
system, bones, and teeth. It is partly regulated by PT-vitamin D[3].
Furthermore, 40-70% of the daily recommendations for zinc is absorbed from
animal products. The daily recommendation is 9mg/day for men and 7mg/day for
women. Zinc plays an important role in the immune system and cell growth. [4]
Bioavailability Conclusion
More research needs to be done on the other nutrients. This is important to
translate the physiological factors into dietary requirements. Next to the sheer
amount of nutrients present, other factors also play an important role in the
uptake of nutrients: infections, age, gender, and the presence of other nutrients.
Some nutrients are better absorbed when ingested in combination with other
nutrients, but this also works the other way around. Therefore, a lot of research
also needs to be done on interactions between different types of nutrients, both
macro and micro.

General conclusion
Five different edible insect species were investigated for nutritional composition
to determine the candidate best suited to replace meat. Their protein content
ranges 40%-70%, the fat content ranges 15%-40%, and fibre content ranges 5%20%. The overall composition, as well as nutritional composition and amino acid
profile, varies, and is dependent upon their origin and rearing method. The lesser
mealworm did not have sufficient data to be further analyzed and was therefore
not included in the discussion.
Still, little is known about the different types of insects and how the nutrient they
contain are absorbed in the human body. However, the research that has been
conducted shows a lot of potential.
25

The composition of the insects focused on in the previous discussion are rather
comparable to the composition of chicken meat. Protein content in some of the
insects is higher than in chicken. The amount of fat is higher in chicken. Fibre
content is near zero in chicken and higher in insects, if insects are consumed as a
whole, including the exoskeleton.
Different mineral contents are higher in insects than in chicken for example:
calcium, phosphorus and potassium. More research needs to be done on the
bioavailability of these minerals and if it is not a risk for exceeding the maximum
daily intake.
Since sustainability is getting more and more important, this was also a point of
interest in this research. Insects have a higher food-conversion ratio than
chicken, 1.7 vs 2.5 kg/kg. Land use is more than twice as high for chicken than in
insects. Only energy use in MJ/kg protein is higher in insects than for chicken.
Insects are in general more sustainable than cattle and pigs, only for poultry not
all the components are researched. Within the insects species, Locusta migratoria
has a higher emission of CO2 and N2O compared to the Tenebrio molitor and the
Acheta domesticus. Only for a few species are these known, so in order to make a
complete overview of all insects species, more information is needed. Therefore,
it was impossible to determine which insect would be best suited to replace meat
from a sustainability standpoint, as more research must be conducted.
From the perspective of macro and micronutrient content, as well as amino acid
content, the yellow mealworm appears to be the best option to act as a meat
replacement, as this insect is the most compositionally similar to chicken, which
is the established criteria against which all the aforementioned insects are
measured. With respect to the RDA values of micronutrients, we acknowledge
that the content of insects, may perhaps exceed what is necessary in a human
diet, particularly with zinc and copper, and magnesium in the particular case of
yellow mealworms. However, if the yellow mealworm is consumed in moderation
(that is to say, in a similar portion size as chicken is consumed, which is 60g per
day in Europe) the adverse effects of overconsumption of these minerals,
including diarrhea and nausea, can be minimized, if not entirely eliminated. It is
therefore reasonable to conclude that from the perspective of macro and
micronutrient content, as well as amino acid content, the yellow mealworm is the
best choice to replace meat.
Taking into account all of the information that has been discussed, including the
nutrient content of insects compared to chickens, the bioavailability of these
nutrients, and the sustainability factor, it is reasonable to conclude that the
yellow mealworm would be the best replacement for meat in human food.

Recommendations
In the report we researched how well insects would replace chicken. The system
used was a ranking system where all factors were considered equally import. In
reality some aspects, like the amino acid composition, may be more important in
our diet than the amount of fats and fibres in the products which we also
reflected. Furthermore, for some parts of either the chicken or the insects no data
was found, and these parts were automatically given the lowest score possible or
26

eliminated altogether. In reality, however, these parts may be very different

which could result in different results and perhaps even a different conclusion.

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