Profiling consumers who are ready to adopt insects as a meat substitute in a Western society

Background Our daily food choices have a huge impact on the environment. Production of meat has a much larger impact compared with the production of vegetable-based proteins. In order to create a food production and supply system that is more sustainable and environmentally friendly, food consumption behaviour needs to change. A reduction of meat intake is necessary. The introduction of alternative protein sources (e.g., insects or cultured meat) might be one possibility to replace meat. Scope and approach The present systematic review identified 38 articles to answer the following three research questions: 1) Are consumers aware that meat consumption has a large environmental impact? 2) Are consumers willing to reduce meat consumption or substitute meat with an alternative? 3) Are consumers willing to accept meat substitutes and alternative proteins, such as insects or cultured meat? Key findings and conclusion Consumer awareness of the environmental impact of meat production is surprisingly low. This is true for consumers in various European countries. Likewise, willingness to change meat consumption behaviour in terms of reducing or substituting meat (e.g., by eating insects or meat substitutes) is low as well. How people can be motivated to decrease their meat consumption behaviour has been underexplored. In particular, experimental studies are lacking and further investigations should focus on strategies (e.g., nudging interventions) that might help to motivate pro-environmentally friendly meat consumption behaviour. Moreover, population-based studies are scarce, and we need more in-depth studies on the factors that increase people's willingness to reduce or to substitute meat consumption.

Consumer perception and behaviour regarding sustainable protein consumption: A systematic review

Food futurists accept that sustainability-minded humanity will increasingly incorporate insects as alternative protein. The most studied and easily reared species are not necessarily the most sustainable, acceptable, or delicious. Here, we review the literature on the black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens, which is capable of efficiently converting a wide variety of organic materials, from food waste to manure, into insect biomass. They can be grown and harvested without dedicated facilities and are not pestiferous. Their larvae are 42% crude protein and 29% fat, although they are higher in saturated fats than most insects. They do not concentrate pesticides or mycotoxins. They are already grown and recommended for use as animal feed, but with regional legal restrictions on how this is done. For commercial use in human foods, larvae could potentially be milled and converted into a textured protein with a strong flavor. Their biggest advantage over other insects is their ability to convert waste into food, generating value and closing nutrient loops as they reduce pollution and costs. This general advantage is also their greatest disadvantage, for the social stigmas and legal prohibitions against eating organisms that eat waste are added to extant taboos facing insect consumption.

Review of Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) as Animal Feed and Human Food

The psychology of eating insects: A cross-cultural comparison between Germany and China

Insects as food: Exploring cultural exposure and individual experience as determinants of acceptance

Entomophagy is not well accepted in Western European populations but it is common in the world. In the future, populations from developed countries should adapt to other sources of animal proteins because traditional breeding of beef, poultry or pork will become unsustainable.

This study was performed to assess the perception of entomophagy in the Belgian population. A slight neophobia was detected but people agreed to evaluate insect preparations. Various insect formulations (mealworms and house crickets) were prepared, and insects associated with known flavors and crispy textures were preferred. After a hedonic test, people seemed to be willing to eat and cook insects in the near future.

The opportunity to introduce entomophagy in food habits of Western European populations was positively concluded. Integration of edible insects in human food is a potential solution to replace other animal protein sources in a much more sustainable development and will deserve more attention in the future.

Practical Applications
This study shows the edible insects' potential to become a usual food ingredient in Western European populations. Our results show that consumers are ready to buy and cook insects at home if they are able to associate them with familiar flavors.

Edible Insects Acceptance by Belgian Consumers: Promising Attitude for Entomophagy Development

Predator searching efficiency increases in response to a variety of environmental cues associated with its prey. The sugary excretion of aphids (honeydew) has been found to act as a prey-associated cue for many aphid natural enemies. In the present study, the honeydew excreted by Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris) was identified as an arrestant and a contact kairomone for young larvae and adults of a common predatory hoverfly, Episyrphus balteatus (De Geer) (Diptera: Syrphidae). First and second instar larvae increased their foraging behaviour in the honeydew-treated area. When plants were sprayed with crude honeydew, the speed of movement of female E. balteatus was significantly higher than in controls, resulting in a longer period of time spent on treated plants and laying eggs. We conclude that the honeydew excreted by A. pisum induces searching behaviour and acts as and arrestant not only for adults but also for young E. balteatus larvae.

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Aphid honeydew: An arrestant and a contact kairomone for Episyrphus balteatus (Diptera: Syrphidae) larvae and adults

This study investigated the role of odorant cues used during host-habitat location by the generalist parasitoid, Nasonia vitripennis Walker. Nasonia vitripennis is a common parasitoid of Dipteran pupae found in association with decaying carrion. Behavioral assays were used to investigate the host-habitat searching behavior under different scenarios. First, we demonstrated N. vitripennis to be significantly attracted toward odorant cues associated with decaying meat. The biological activity of nine of the volatile molecules constituting the odor of decaying meat was tested on the searching behavior of parasitoid females through two complementary chemoecological approaches: electroantennography (EAG) and olfactometry bioassays. Butanoic acid and butan-1-ol elicited high olfactory responses, but no attraction was induced by these two chemicals. Behavioral assays showed that, among the VOCs tested, methyldisulfanylmethane (DMDS) was the only volatile chemical to induce attraction in N. vitripennis.

Host-habitat location by the parasitoid, Nasonia vitripennis Walker (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae).

We report the insecticidal efficacy of Jatropha curcas seed oil against two bruchid beetle species, Callosobruchus maculatus Fab and Bruchidius atrolineatus Pic, devastating stored cowpea seeds (Vigna unguiculata). J. curcas oil concentrations ranging from 0.0, 0.25, 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 ml were mixed with 200 g of cowpea seeds before introduction of 10 pairs (5 males and 5 females) of C. maculatus or B. atrolineatus as the case may be. Mortality, fecundity and rate of emergence were observed and compared with untreated control and a standard (Deltamethrin). J. curcas oil reduced adult survival in both species, B. atrolineatus being more sensitive than C. maculatus. Oviposition was also reduced by 85 to 90% in the females of both species after exposure to 2.5 ml of J. curcas oil solution. Only 9% of C. maculatus nymphs emerged as adults in seeds treated with 2.5 ml of oil. In B. atrolineatus, emergence was reduced to 12% in seeds treated with 1.5 ml of oil.

	 

	Key words: Natural insecticide, Jatropha curcas oil, pea beetle, cowpea seed.

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Insecticidal effect of Jatropha curcas L. seed oil on Callosobruchus maculatus Fab and Bruchidius atrolineatus Pic (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) on stored cowpea seeds (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) in Niger

[Objectives] Semiochemicals are involved in tritrophic interactions and affect the behaviors of both herbivores and beneficial insects. Many volatile molecules from the wheat plant [Triticum aestivum L.(Gramineae)] have previously been identified. To understand their effects on aphids and related auxiliaries. [Methods] The impact of four of these volatiles; methyl-salycilate, cis-3-hexenyl acetate, hexenol, and 1-hexanol, was tested on the wheat aphid [Sitobion avenae(Fabricus)(Homoptera: Aphididae)] and two major predators of this pest encountered in field crops, the hoverfly(Episyrphus balteatus(De Geer)(Diptera: Syrphidae)] and the multicoloured Asian ladybird [Harmonia axyridis(Pallas)(Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)]. Different doses of these chemicals were tested by performing four arm-olfactometer and wind-tunnel assays. [Results] The results show that methyl-salycilate seemed to be attractive only toward H. axyridis but 3-hexenyl acetate and hexenol were attractive to both S. avenae and H. axyridis. However, these positive responses decreased with increased dose of the tested compounds. 3-hexenyl acetate also induced positive response in E. balteatus but 1-hexanol was more attractive to aphids than to their natural enemies. [Conclusion] In conclusion, these results highlight the potential benefit of combining methyl-salycilate, 3-hexenyl acetate and hexenol in push and pull traps aimed to control S. avenae. Contrary to the three aforementioned compounds, 1-hexanol did not seem to have much potential as a semiochemical for the biological control of aphids.

Eric Haubruge

Papers

Edible Insects Acceptance by Belgian Consumers: Promising Attitude for Entomophagy Development

Aphid honeydew: An arrestant and a contact kairomone for Episyrphus balteatus (Diptera: Syrphidae) larvae and adults

Host-habitat location by the parasitoid, Nasonia vitripennis Walker (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae).

Insecticidal effect of Jatropha curcas L. seed oil on Callosobruchus maculatus Fab and Bruchidius atrolineatus Pic (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) on stored cowpea seeds (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) in Niger

Effect of wheat plant volatiles on aphids and associated predator behavior: selection of efficient infochemicals for field study