Food Compounds from Meadow Grasshoppers

Eating insects as food, particularly grasshopper is practiced in many cultures throughout the world. Meadow grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus) is commonly found in Europe and some part of Asia. It is already known that grasshoppers of Chorthippus species are consumed as food in countries such
as Thailand. With the aim of evaluating the nutritional potential of this insect species the proximate nutritional composition of grasshoppers caught from the local fields was realized. Besides this, the fatty acid profile of extracted lipids, amino acid profile and mineral composition of the insect was also revealed. Results suggest that meadow grasshopper is an excellent source of protein and essential amino acids. Lipids extracted from the grasshopper have an interesting fatty acid composition.
Also the grasshopper contains some minerals that are important for body. With such protein content, amino acid profile, fatty acid profile of the lipids and mineral content this grasshopper species could present an interesting alternate to conventional protein sources.