Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Jan 19:10:1121508.
doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1121508. eCollection 2023.

Nutritional aspects and dietary benefits of "Silkworms": Current scenario and future outlook

Deepak Kumar Mahanta  1 , J Komal  2 , Ipsita Samal  3 , Tanmaya Kumar Bhoi  4 , Vinod Kumar Dubey  1 , Kiranamaya Pradhan  5 , Aarthi Nekkanti  6 , M N Rudra Gouda  7 , Varun Saini  8 , Nikita Negi  6 , Sheenam Bhateja  9 , Hansa Kumari Jat  10 , Deepika Jeengar  11
Affiliations
Review

Nutritional aspects and dietary benefits of "Silkworms": Current scenario and future outlook

Deepak Kumar Mahanta et al. Front Nutr. .

Abstract

In the current scenario, it is estimated that by 2050, there will be an additional 2.5 billion people and a 70% increase in food demand. Crop yields are not increasing fast enough to support global needs, and world agriculture is facing several serious challenges. Therefore, insects can be a nutritious alternative to meet the ever-increasing food demand in the present and future. The majority of insect consumption occurs in developing countries, with approximately 1,900 insect species consumed worldwide. Food and feed derived from them are of high quality, have a high feed conversion ratio and emit a low level of greenhouse gases. Among insects silkworms are beneficial to humans, not only because of their high nutritional value, but also because of their several pharmacological properties. Silkworm eggs, larvae, and pupae contains high amount of proteins, oils, minerals, vitamins, and several other beneficial components which are nutritious as well as have positive effect on human health. Studies have shown that silkworm pupae protect the liver, enhance immunity, inhibit apoptosis, inhibit cancer, inhibit tumor growth, inhibit microbial growth, regulate blood glucose and blood lipids, and lower blood pressure. This review paper summerized the nutritional value of different life stages of silkworm, nutritional comparison of silkworm with the major human foods, and the effects of silkworm consumption on human health, thus ittargets to generate interest toward in sericulture and improve human health by using silkworm as a nutritious food and attain sustainability in food and nutritional security.

Keywords: consumption; health; insect; nutrition; pupae; silkworm.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Representing amount of fat (19.2%), albumin (56%), and sugars (7.7%) in silkworm egg. The figure is also depicting about different functions of silkworm eggs like giving up alcohol consumption, male sexual stimulator, embryo inductor, and source of vitamin B.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Representing (A) Delicious food prepared from silkworm larvae. (B) Silkworm larvae used as animal food. (C) Silkworm larvae used as toxicological research studies for drugs, pesticides, nanomaterials. (D) Silkworm larvae used for curing blood sugar level (Diabetes). (E) Died fungus affected silkworm larvae curing body spasms. (F) Died fungus affected silkworm larvae curing stomach pain.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Representing amount of different amino acids (g amino acid/100 gm of protein) present in different silkworm pupae as compared with hen egg. The figure depicts that amount of essential and non-essential amino acids present in silkworm pupae are higher than the egg of hen. The amount of amino acids present in mulberry pupae is far more than the other silkworm pupae as well as egg of hen. The amino acid composition of the proteins is essentially the same in the different species of silkworm pupae, all consisting of 18 amino acids (except for Eri silkworm pupae). Compared to hen eggs, pupae are higher in Phe and Pro.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Depicting amount of minerals present in pupae of different types of silkworms against minerals present in egg. Phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium are the major minerals present in silkworms. Silkworm pupae have more minerals as compared to hen egg. Phosphorus is highest in eri silkworm, Calcium, and Zinc is highest in mulberry silkworm and chromium in tasar silkworm. The amount of iron is very less in tasar silkworm. Manganese is present very less amount in all the silkworms and almost absent in tasar silkworm, Among all the minerals present in silkworms phosphorus is present in highest amount. The amount of chromium is present least in eri silkworm.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Representing quantity of fatty acids (in percentage) present in pupae of silkworms (mulberry, eri, tasar) in comparison with sunflower oil. Palmitic acid is more in eri silkworm pupae, Oleic acid is more in tasar silkworm, Saturated fatty acids are more in eri silkworms, polyunsaturated fatty acid is more in eri silkworm pupae in comparison with other silkworm pupae. Out of four different species of silkworm pupae, Eri silkworm pupae has the highest oil content, at 26.2%. All the different silkworm pupae oils contain high levels of unsaturated fatty acids (both monosaturated and polysaturated), with 77.71% in Antheraea pernyi. Silkworm pupae are not only rich in oils but also contain high levels of unsaturated fatty acids, especially polyunsaturated fatty acids.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Representing benefits of silkworm pupae industry (A) silkworm pupae contains several vitamins and important minerals those helps in increasing lactation for mother. (B) Representing silkworm pupae in food industry which is available in several forms like delicious cooked food, packed silkworm pupa, chili oil, candy, jelly, jam, snacks. (C) Silkworm used in cosmetics and chemical industry producing soap, cream, fertilizer. It is also used as culturing agent for cordyceps fungus (anti-cancerous). (D) Silkworm pupae used as food supplements in space for astronuts due to high protein content. (E) Silkworm pupae used for making vaccine for corona vaccine.
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Representing use of silkworm pupae proteins in different function and physiological mechanisms. (A) Consumption of pupal protein is used as antibacterial agent as protein hydrlysate regulates GSH production activity, Expression of SOD and ROS reduction. (B) Pupal protein is used for reducing blood pressure by inhibiting Angiotensin I-converting enzyme by protein hydrolysate. (C) Pupal protein is used as antioxidant as it activate innate immunity and activate IL-6, IL-12, Cyclin, D1, CDK4. (D) Pupal protein is used as anticancer agent as protein hydrolysate activates ROS, Bax, P53 which cause apoptosis and also stop S- phase of cell division. (E) Pupal protein impact on decreasing blood lipids and sugar level as protein hydrolysate activate GLUT4, Acrp30, and Leptin.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

  • Nutritional, functional, and allergenic properties of silkworm pupae.
    Wu X, He K, Velickovic TC, Liu Z. Wu X, et al. Food Sci Nutr. 2021 Jun 29;9(8):4655-4665. doi: 10.1002/fsn3.2428. eCollection 2021 Aug. Food Sci Nutr. 2021. PMID: 34401111 Free PMC article. Review.
  • Silkworm Pupae: A Functional Food with Health Benefits for Humans.
    Zhou Y, Zhou S, Duan H, Wang J, Yan W. Zhou Y, et al. Foods. 2022 May 28;11(11):1594. doi: 10.3390/foods11111594. Foods. 2022. PMID: 35681343 Free PMC article. Review.
  • Edible insects in China: Utilization and prospects.
    Feng Y, Chen XM, Zhao M, He Z, Sun L, Wang CY, Ding WF. Feng Y, et al. Insect Sci. 2018 Apr;25(2):184-198. doi: 10.1111/1744-7917.12449. Epub 2017 Apr 20. Insect Sci. 2018. PMID: 28225201 Review.
  • The Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health.
    Landrigan PJ, Raps H, Cropper M, Bald C, Brunner M, Canonizado EM, Charles D, Chiles TC, Donohue MJ, Enck J, Fenichel P, Fleming LE, Ferrier-Pages C, Fordham R, Gozt A, Griffin C, Hahn ME, Haryanto B, Hixson R, Ianelli H, James BD, Kumar P, Laborde A, Law KL, Martin K, Mu J, Mulders Y, Mustapha A, Niu J, Pahl S, Park Y, Pedrotti ML, Pitt JA, Ruchirawat M, Seewoo BJ, Spring M, Stegeman JJ, Suk W, Symeonides C, Takada H, Thompson RC, Vicini A, Wang Z, Whitman E, Wirth D, Wolff M, Yousuf AK, Dunlop S. Landrigan PJ, et al. Ann Glob Health. 2023 Mar 21;89(1):23. doi: 10.5334/aogh.4056. eCollection 2023. Ann Glob Health. 2023. PMID: 36969097 Free PMC article. Review.
  • Edible insects are the future?
    van Huis A. van Huis A. Proc Nutr Soc. 2016 Aug;75(3):294-305. doi: 10.1017/S0029665116000069. Epub 2016 Feb 24. Proc Nutr Soc. 2016. PMID: 26908196
See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Jongema Y. List of Edible Insects of the World. Wageningen: Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University; (2017).
    1. de Castro R, Ohara A, dos Santos Aguilar J, Domingues M. Nutritional, functional and biological properties of insect proteins: processes for obtaining, consumption and future challenges. Trends Food Sci Technol. (2018) 76:82–9. 10.1016/j.tifs.2018.04.006 - DOI
    1. Zhou Y, Zhou S, Duan H, Wang J, Yan W. Silkworm pupae: a functional food with health benefits for humans. Foods. (2022) 11:1594. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Buhroo Z, Bhat M, Malik M, Kamili A, Ganai N, Khan I. Trends in development and utilization of sericulture resources for diversification and value addition. Int J Entomol Res. (2018) 6:27–47.
    1. Gwin J, Carbone J, Rodriguez N, Pasiakos S. Physiological limitations of protein foods ounce equivalents and the underappreciated role of essential amino acid density in healthy dietary patterns. J Nutr. (2021) 151:3276–83. 10.1093/jn/nxab262 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources