A review on edible insects and their utilization in Northeastern Himalaya

Abstract

North East India is known for its hot spot for biodiversity and has different food habit from the rest of mainland India. Many communities in this region accept insects as the part of their diets and considered as delicacy. Entomophagy is practiced and also a part of their culture in this region since early days but, due to the influence of western culture in new generations; eating insects are regarded as disgust and primitive nature. Therefore, the practice of entomophagy is fading day by day in this region. However, edible insects are good source of proteins and also contain many minerals and vitamins and can contribute in food security for growing population. More than 200 species of edible insects are documented so far and out of which 92 different species are consumed in Nagaland, 69 species in Manipur, 67 species in Assam, 65 species in Arunachal Pradesh and few insect species in Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. This review mainly describes about the species of edible insects consumed by different community of North East India and their future prospect.