Edible Insects as a Novel Source of Bioactive Peptides: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The production of food and feed to meet the needs of the growing world's population will soon become a serious challenge. In search for sustainable solutions, entomophagy is being proposed as an alternative source of proteins, with economic and environmental advantages when compared to meat. Edible insects are not only a valuable source of important nutrients, but their gastrointestinal digestion also originates small peptides with important bioactive properties. The present work intends to provide an exhaustive systematic review on research articles reporting bioactive peptides identified from edible insects, as demonstrated by in silico, in vitro, and/or in vivo assays. A total of 36 studies were identified following the PRISMA methodology, gathering 211 potentially bioactive peptides with antioxidant, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, antiobesity, anti-inflammatory, hypocholesterolemia, antimicrobial, anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2), antithrombotic, and immunomodulatory properties, originated from the hydrolysates of 12 different insect species. From these candidates, the bioactive properties of 62 peptides were characterized in vitro and 3 peptides were validated in vivo. Data establishing the scientific basis of the health benefits associated with the consumption of edible insects can be a valuable contribution to overcoming the cultural issues that hinder the introduction of insects in the Western diet.

Keywords: bioactive peptides; entomophagy; gastrointestinal digestion; health benefits; systematic review.

Figure 1

PRISMA 2020 flow diagram [26] of this systematic review.

Figure 2

Photographs of the 12 insect species with bioactive peptides sequenced and characterized.

Figure 3

Chart representation of the (A) number of bioactive peptides with predicted bioactivities by insect species; (B) number of peptides whose bioactive properties were assessed individually through in vitro studies by insect species.

Figure 4

Chart representation of the (A) number of peptides by bioactive property; (B) number of peptides whose bioactive property was assessed through in vitro studies.