Table 3.
Fatty acid composition of edible aquatic insects and selected edible terrestrial insects.
| Order | Species | Developmental Stage | Lipid % |
Fatty Acid Composition (% of Total Fatty Acids) | Reference | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C14:0 | C16:0 | C18:0 | SFA | C18:1 | MUFA | C18:2 | C20:4 | C20:5 | PUFA | |||||
| Aquatic insects | ||||||||||||||
| Odonata | Epophthalmia elegans | L | 9.14 | 1.67 | 21.88 | 7.85 | 33.73 | 16.97 | 32.84 | 4.46 | 5.02 | 6.11 | 21.05 | [47] |
| Anax parthenope julius | L | 11.06 | 1.18 | 24.41 | 7.00 | 34.68 | 17.65 | 27.85 | 7.01 | 3.73 | 3.08 | 27.85 | ||
| Ictinogomphus rapax | L | 10.59 | 2.07 | 19.30 | 6.98 | 30.11 | 19.01 | 35.75 | 7.49 | 1.89 | 5.08 | 20.33 | ||
| Pantala flavescens | L | 10.4 | 0.75 | 21.6 | 8.55 | 32.3 | 11.98 | 33.07 | 9.59 | 1.91 | 9.44 | 27.51 | ||
| Inictinogomphus clavatus | L | 11.9 | 0.89 | 24.61 | 7.74 | 34.43 | 20.58 | 42.28 | 6.66 | 1.24 | 3.87 | 17.75 | ||
| Orthetrum pruinosum neglectum | L | 5.72 | 2.34 | 17.57 | 7.65 | 34.97 | 6.85 | 31.53 | 5.77 | 6.70 | 7.83 | 26.70 | ||
| Diptera | Stictochironomus pictulus | L | - | 4.70 | 16.10 | 6.20 | 34.00 | 11.00 | 49.50 | 6.70 | 1.00 | 3.60 | 14.30 | [68] |
| Anopheles albimanus | L | - | 1.94 | 28.03 | 7.76 | 44.50 | 22.26 | 31.13 | 7.59 | 3.07 | 4.19 | 24.40 | [69] | |
| A. vestitipennis | L | - | 1.86 | 21.82 | 6.62 | 37.39 | 22.06 | 36.16 | 12.28 | 2.85 | 2.47 | 26.43 | ||
| A. darlingi | L | - | 1.26 | 25.42 | 6.64 | 39.53 | 22.44 | 30.76 | 18.66 | 2.46 | 2.39 | 29.69 | ||
| Coleoptera | Cybister japonicus | A | 27.66 | 3.41 | 12.01 | 5.18 | 27.56 | 35.61 | 49.94 | 9.82 | 3.55 | 3.96 | 22.52 | [61] |
| Dytiscus danmcus | A | 27.56 | 2.86 | 21.63 | 2.45 | 35.1 | 29.94 | 46.95 | 6.53 | 3.54 | 4.08 | 19.46 | ||
| Hydrophilus aoninatus | A | 31.86 | 9.16 | 19.09 | - | 65.2 | 1.83 | 3.81 | 1.98 | - | - | 30.92 | ||
| Terrestrial insects | ||||||||||||||
| Orthoptera | Gryllus bimaculatus | L | 28.90 | - | 25.44 | 8.74 | 34.67 | 25.86 | 26.54 | 37.05 | - | - | 38.79 | [70] |
| Ruspolia differens | A | 48.20 | 0.90 | 31.50 | 5.50 | 38.30 | 24.60 | 26.60 | 31.20 | - | - | 34.40 | [53] | |
| Coleoptera | Tenebrio molitor | L | 31.97 | 4.45 | 21.33 | 7.92 | 33.70 | 35.83 | 37.80 | 22.83 | 0 | 0 | 22.94 | [71] |
| Hymenoptera | Apis mellifera | L | 4.90 | 2.40 | 37.30 | 11.80 | 51.80 | 47.50 | 48.20 | 0 | - | - | 0 | [72] |
| Vespa mandarinia | B | 20.20 | 2.50 | 21.30 | 5.00 | 30.70 | 27.70 | 29.20 | 33.70 | - | - | 40.10 | ||
| Lepidoptera | Bombyx mori | P | 32.20 | 0.10 | 24.20 | 4.50 | 24.30 | 26.00 | 27.70 | 7.30 | - | - | 36.30 | [73] |
Note: L = larva, P = pupa, A = adult; “-” = not determined or not estimated; oil. SFA = saturated fatty acids, MUFA = monounsaturated fatty acids, PUFA = polyunsaturated fatty acids.