Microbiology of Edible Insects

A special issue of Microbiology Research (ISSN 2036-7481).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 June 2021) | Viewed by 3835

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Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
Interests: Escherichia coli; meat; antibiotic resistance; antimicrobials; microbial molecular biology; bacteriology
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Dear Colleagues,

In the face of the continual evolution of society, food habits and the variety of tastes are frequently replaced by innovative products or products from foreign cultures on the consumer’s table. With the increase in the population expected by 2050, to 9 billion, and the parallel increase in the demand for proteins of animal origin, new protein sources have been suggested, including edible insects. Edible insects fall within the category of novel foods, i.e., the category of foods consumed in insignificant amounts in the European Union before 15 May 1997 (date of entry into force of Regulation (EC) No. 258/1997, later repealed by Regulation (EU) No. 2283/2015). A risk analysis is conducted for each novel food entering the European market, and each new product or ingredient is subjected to the scientific opinion of EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) and requires formal authorisation from the European Commission. These unconventional foods also have to be proven to comply with the parameters of health and hygiene, safety and quality, even in the absence of specific legislation. Microbiology Research welcomes papers that provide an overview of the actual knowledge of possible food safety microbiological hazards to human and animal health from the use of insects for food and feed, and papers that highlight data gaps and suggest the way forward.

Prof. Dr. Beniamino T. Cenci-Goga
Dr. Luca Grispoldi
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • insects
  • safety
  • food
  • feed
  • risk assessment
  • microbiology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

10 pages, 1241 KiB  
Article
Hygienic Characteristics and Detection of Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Crickets (Acheta domesticus) Breed for Flour Production
by Luca Grispoldi, Musafiri Karama, Saeed El-Ashram, Cristina Maria Saraiva, Juan García-Díez, Athanasios Chalias, Salvatore Barbera and Beniamino T. Cenci-Goga
Microbiol. Res. 2021, 12(2), 503-512; https://doi.org/10.3390/microbiolres12020034 - 15 Jun 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2969
Abstract
During the last ten years, the worldwide interest in using insects as food and feed has surged. Edible insects fall within the category of novel foods, i.e., the category of food not consumed in significant amounts in the European Union before 15 May [...] Read more.
During the last ten years, the worldwide interest in using insects as food and feed has surged. Edible insects fall within the category of novel foods, i.e., the category of food not consumed in significant amounts in the European Union before 15 May 1997 (the date of entry into force of Regulation (EC) No. 258/1997, later repealed by Regulation (EU) No. 2283/2015). One of the most promising insect species to be raised for food is the house cricket (Acheta domesticus). In this study, the rearing of a stock of house crickets was studied over a period of four months. The microbiological quality of the farm was studied using swabs on the surface of the rearing boxes to analyze the trend over time of different populations of microorganisms (total aerobic mesophilic microbiota, Lactobacillus spp., enterococci, Staphylococcus spp., Enterobacteriaceae, total coliforms, Pseudomonas spp. and molds). The presence of four antimicrobial resistance genes (aph, blaZ, sul1, and tetM) was investigated by polymerase chain reaction. A production scheme was also developed in order to obtain a cricket-based flour, which was analyzed for its microbiological and chemical-centesimal profile. The results obtained in this study demonstrate that the contamination increases with time and that a proper management of the farming system for insects is of the utmost importance, as it is for conventional farm animals such as ungulates, poultry, and rabbits. The old-fashioned adage “all full, all empty” for the farming system summarizes the need for proper cleaning and disinfection of the structures at the end of each production cycle. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbiology of Edible Insects)
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