Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament d'Enginyeria Agroalimentària i Biotecnologia, Ros Baró, Marta, Casas Agustench, Patricia, Díaz Rizzolo, Diana Alícia, Batlle Bayer, Laura, Adrià Acosta, Ferran, Aguilar Martínez, Alicia, Medina Luque, Francesc Xavier, Pujolà Cunill, Montserrat, Bach Faig, Anna, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Departament d'Enginyeria Agroalimentària i Biotecnologia, Ros Baró, Marta, Casas Agustench, Patricia, Díaz Rizzolo, Diana Alícia, Batlle Bayer, Laura, Adrià Acosta, Ferran, Aguilar Martínez, Alicia, Medina Luque, Francesc Xavier, Pujolà Cunill, Montserrat, and Bach Faig, Anna
This systematic review aimed to examine the health outcomes and environmental impact of edible insect consumption. Following PRISMA-P guidelines, PubMed, Medline ProQuest, and Cochrane Library databases were searched until February 2021. Twenty-five articles met inclusion criteria: twelve animal and six human studies (randomized, non-randomized, and crossover control trials), and seven studies on sustainability outcomes. In animal studies, a supplement (in powdered form) of 0.5 g/kg of glycosaminoglycans significantly reduced abdominal and epididymal fat weight (5–40% and 5–24%, respectively), blood glucose (10–22%), and total cholesterol levels (9–10%), and a supplement of 5 mg/kg chitin/chitosan reduced body weight (1–4%) and abdominal fat accumulation (4%) versus control diets. In other animal studies, doses up to 7–15% of edible insect inclusion level significantly improved the live weight (9–33%), reduced levels of triglycerides (44%), cholesterol (14%), and blood glucose (8%), and increased microbiota diversity (2%) versus control diet. In human studies, doses up to 7% of edible insect inclusion level produced a significant improvement in gut health (6%) and reduction in systemic inflammation (2%) versus control diets and a significant increase in blood concentrations of essential and branched-chain amino acids and slowing of digestion (40%) versus whey treatment., Postprint (published version)