Microbiological Load of Edible Insects Found in Belgium - PubMed
Rudy Caparros Megido 1 ,
Article ImagesMicrobiological Load of Edible Insects Found in Belgium
Rudy Caparros Megido et al. Insects. .
Abstract
Edible insects are gaining more and more attention as a sustainable source of animal protein for food and feed in the future. In Belgium, some insect products can be found on the market, and consumers are sourcing fresh insects from fishing stores or towards traditional markets to find exotic insects that are illegal and not sanitarily controlled. From this perspective, this study aims to characterize the microbial load of edible insects found in Belgium (i.e., fresh mealworms and house crickets from European farms and smoked termites and caterpillars from a traditional Congolese market) and to evaluate the efficiency of different processing methods (blanching for all species and freeze-drying and sterilization for European species) in reducing microorganism counts. All untreated insect samples had a total aerobic count higher than the limit for fresh minced meat (6.7 log cfu/g). Nevertheless, a species-dependent blanching step has led to a reduction of the total aerobic count under this limit, except for one caterpillar species. Freeze-drying and sterilization treatments on European species were also effective in reducing the total aerobic count. Yeast and mold counts for untreated insects were above the Good Manufacturing Practice limits for raw meat, but all treatments attained a reduction of these microorganisms under this limit. These results confirmed that fresh insects, but also smoked insects from non-European trades, need a cooking step (at least composed of a first blanching step) before consumption. Therefore, blanching timing for each studied insect species is proposed and discussed.
Keywords: Acheta domesticus; Cirina forda; Saturniidae; Tenebrio molitor; entomophagy.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Similar articles
-
Garofalo C, Milanović V, Cardinali F, Aquilanti L, Clementi F, Osimani A. Garofalo C, et al. Food Res Int. 2019 Nov;125:108527. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2019.108527. Epub 2019 Jun 25. Food Res Int. 2019. PMID: 31554102 Review.
-
The microbiota of marketed processed edible insects as revealed by high-throughput sequencing.
Garofalo C, Osimani A, Milanović V, Taccari M, Cardinali F, Aquilanti L, Riolo P, Ruschioni S, Isidoro N, Clementi F. Garofalo C, et al. Food Microbiol. 2017 Apr;62:15-22. doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2016.09.012. Epub 2016 Sep 16. Food Microbiol. 2017. PMID: 27889142
-
Gałęcki R, Sokół R. Gałęcki R, et al. PLoS One. 2019 Jul 8;14(7):e0219303. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219303. eCollection 2019. PLoS One. 2019. PMID: 31283777 Free PMC article.
-
Bless I, Bastian SEP, Gould J, Yang Q, Wilkinson KL. Bless I, et al. Food Res Int. 2024 Aug;190:114574. doi: 10.1016/j.foodres.2024.114574. Epub 2024 May 27. Food Res Int. 2024. PMID: 38945565
-
Marzoli F, Bertola M, Pinarelli Fazion J, Cento G, Antonelli P, Dolzan B, Barco L, Belluco S. Marzoli F, et al. Int J Food Microbiol. 2024 Jan 30;410:110464. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2023.110464. Epub 2023 Nov 9. Int J Food Microbiol. 2024. PMID: 37956634 Review.
Cited by
-
Brulé L, Misery B, Baudouin G, Yan X, Guidou C, Trespeuch C, Foltyn C, Anthoine V, Moriceau N, Federighi M, Boué G. Brulé L, et al. Foods. 2024 May 20;13(10):1587. doi: 10.3390/foods13101587. Foods. 2024. PMID: 38790886 Free PMC article.
-
Traynor A, Burns DT, Wu D, Karoonuthaisiri N, Petchkongkaew A, Elliott CT. Traynor A, et al. NPJ Sci Food. 2024 Jan 20;8(1):7. doi: 10.1038/s41538-023-00241-y. NPJ Sci Food. 2024. PMID: 38245539 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Matiza Ruzengwe F, Manditsera FA, Madimutsa ON, Macheka L, Kembo G, Fiore A, Ledbetter M, Mubaiwa J. Matiza Ruzengwe F, et al. J Insects Food Feed. 2023 Aug 27;9(9):1187-1197. doi: 10.3920/JIFF2022.0046. Epub 2023 Apr 7. J Insects Food Feed. 2023. PMID: 37997599 Free PMC article.
-
Dandadzi M, Musundire R, Muriithi A, Ngadze RT. Dandadzi M, et al. Heliyon. 2023 Jul 25;9(8):e18642. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18642. eCollection 2023 Aug. Heliyon. 2023. PMID: 37576258 Free PMC article.
-
Akullo JO, Kiage-Mokua BN, Nakimbugwe D, Ng'ang'a J, Kinyuru J. Akullo JO, et al. Food Sci Nutr. 2023 Mar 2;11(6):2838-2851. doi: 10.1002/fsn3.3262. eCollection 2023 Jun. Food Sci Nutr. 2023. PMID: 37324928 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Belluco S., Losasso C., Maggioletti M., Alonzi C.C., Paoletti M.G., Ricci A. Edible insects in a food safety and nutritional perspective: A critical review. Compr. Rev. Food Sci. Food Saf. 2013;12:296–313. doi: 10.1111/1541-4337.12014. - DOI
-
- Caparros Megido R., Alabi T., Larreché S., Alexandra L., Haubruge E., Francis F. Risks and valorization of insects in a food and feed context. Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr. 2015;51:215–258.
-
- Gahukar R.T. Entomophagy and human food security. Int. J. Trop. Insect Sci. 2011;31:129–144. doi: 10.1017/S1742758411000257. - DOI
-
- Van Huis A., van Itterbeeck J., Klunder H.C., Mertens E., Halloran A., Muir G., Vantomme P. Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security. Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations; Rome, Italy: 2013.
-
- DeFoliart G.R. Insects as human food. Crop Prot. 1992;11:395–399. doi: 10.1016/0261-2194(92)90020-6. - DOI
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources