Now in a report published in the journal ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry scientists are studying how nutrients, in particular iron – provided by the grasshoppers, crickets, and other insects can really replace beef.

They come to the conclusion that insects do can fill this nutritional need. Edible insects may seem unappetizing for many people in the West, but they have long been included in traditional food in other regions of the world, which is currently home to more than 2 billion people, according to a report by the U. N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

The report also notes that about 1 900 insect species have been registered as a food source worldwide. The fact that they are the source of protein is well established, but if the world should turn to insects, to replace their meat, need to offer more than just protein. Iron is a particularly important nutrient that is often missing in the diet without meat, resulting in iron-deficiency anemia, which can lead to reduced immunity, adverse pregnancy outcomes and other problems. In light of these problems, Yemisi Latunde Dada and his colleagues wanted to know whether the ordinary edible insects to provide the required number of substances.

The researchers analyzed grasshoppers, crickets and flour worms on mineral content and estimated that the amount of each nutrient digested using a laboratory model of human digestion. Insects had different levels of iron, calcium, copper, magnesium, manganese and zinc. Crickets, for example, had higher levels of iron than other insects. Calcium, copper and zinc from grasshoppers, crickets and meal worms were oshivayutsya body better than beef.

Thus, the results support the idea that eating insects could potentially help meet the nutritional needs of a growing world population.