Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science, Vol. LXVI, Issue 2
Written by Natia Joseph KOUADIO, Soro Mariam TIEKOUNGO, N'gbesso Amos EKISSI, Sea Bernard TEHI
The COVID-19 epidemic and the Russian-Ukrainian crisis have aggravated an already catastrophic food security and nutrition situation in the majority of low-income nations, with 12.9% of the population undernourished and over 45% of children under five dying. As a result, edible insects may be a good source of alternative protein as a dietary supplement. The goal of this study was to first assess the in vivo nutritional impact of composite flours made from sorghum and caterpillar and then choose the best flour for biochemical characterization, amino acid, fatty acid, and vitamin quantification. A statistical study demonstrated a significant difference in weight growth (7.57 ± 0.53 g/d and 10.82 ± 2.56 g/d), but no difference in the biological value (0.80-0.94) of the composite flours. F2 composite flour has a protein level of 22.31 ± 0.44% and the presence of important amino acids, a low fat content of 6.56 ± 0.07%, and the presence of vitamins A, B1, B2, B9, B12, C, and E. The nutritional potentialities F2 composite flour imply that this flour might be used in newborn feeding to prevent infant malnutrition in the current COVID epidemic and Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
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