Opinions on insects becoming part of people’s meals

Insects have become people’s lunch

According to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, my country’s insect industry has grown at an average annual rate of 14% since 2007. In 2012, the national insect market reached 35.5 billion Yuan. Experts predict that the insect market will reach 49 billion yuan in 2016. At present, wild insects still dominate the insect market, accounting for 61.6%, and artificially cultivated insects account for 38.4%. Some experts predict that insects will become the most dynamic and potential therapeutic and pharmaceutical resources in the future. Japanese and British medical scientists have clearly concluded that insect antibacterial proteins have powerful bactericidal and anti-cancer effects. The Royal Society of Medicine of the United Kingdom has also listed the active substances of insects as the first choice drugs for cancer prevention, treatment, and health maintenance for research. Traditional Chinese medicine in my country has long used medicinal insects to treat various difficult and complicated diseases.

Insects make a positive contribution to the food supply by providing food for people at low environmental cost. According to statistics, insects are currently part of the traditional diet of at least 2 billion people around the world, and 1,900 species of insects have become part of people's plates. In our country, although insects are not widely used as food and are not consumed as much as in countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, tropical and subtropical regions, hundreds of species are consumed every year. For example, people in Guangdong like to eat dragon lice, people in Zhejiang and Sichuan like to eat silkworm chrysalises, and people in Fujian like to eat dragon lice. People like to eat earthworms, Northeastern people like to eat ants, Shandong people like to eat cicada larvae, and Hubei people use "Zhou'e" to make cooking oil and MSG. Of course, the direct use of insects as food is not yet acceptable to most people. The insect foods seen on the market now basically keep the original form of insects, and are limited to more traditional edible insects such as bees, locusts, and tussahs. Some are made into cans or cans. Fried foods are also made into insect paste and drinks. At present, the development of deep processing of insects is slow and involves regulatory boundaries. Therefore, extracting insect protein or preparing amino acids and other nutritional functional elements to make food additives and then use them in food, health foods, medicines, and cosmetics is an effective scientific way to utilize them in the future.

The insect health industry has broad prospects

Song Yuqiu is full of confidence in the insect health industry. He said that by analyzing and predicting the future prospects of my country's insect breeding and deep processing industry from the current situation of the market economy, we can first It is concluded that with the rapid development of the health industry, the insect industry will surely become an emerging ecological industry with huge market potential. The development of insect nutrition sources involves Chinese and Western medicines, nutritional foods, health foods, dietary supplements, beverages, wine, snack foods, dietary raw materials, cooking seasonings, and feed additives for livestock, fish, pets, etc. Entrepreneurs and investors who are now engaged in the insect health industry are not only doing business, but also engaging in a cause that is of great significance to the future of mankind. Take seaweed products as an example. It only took three years from when scientists announced their nutritional functions to when they were put on the market. At first, Westerners thought seaweed was a foreign object and were very repulsive. But now they regard it as a brand-new and delicious food.

People abroad who care about the insect industry actively promote government cooperation to promote the development of edible and feed insects. Japan has established an Insect Cooking Association and held an insect food festival; the United States has added insects to chocolate. It should be said that my country has many advantageous conditions for developing the insect industry, such as traditional health culture, homologous culture of food and medicine, and traditional Chinese medicine theory, including established insect products and markets. The government and social organizations have gradually paid attention to this aspect of work. For example, this year the Ministry of Agriculture included Tenebrio molitor in the national feed list, promoting the development and utilization of insect nutrition sources.

It is inevitable for resource insects to enter the health industry. It should be characterized by high technology and high efficiency standards, and carry out multi-level comprehensive utilization research and development. Only by working hard on application can we create a new insect industry. From the perspective of pharmacology and health care, utilizing the characteristics and advantages of insects should focus on extracting "insect active proteins, active enzymes, antibacterial peptides, and anti-cancer and anti-tumor active substances" to develop medicinal insects, therapeutic insects and feed insects. The effective utilization of insects will surely give rise to a novel industrial field.