Mealworms or crickets: Which is better for human fatty acid dietary supplements?

Approximately two billion people worldwide consume over 2000 species of food insects. In Canada and the US, cricket powder is one of the most common edible insect products. Commercial food-quality mealworms, Tenebrio molitor, are significantly less available, though their nutritional value is similar to crickets, Acheta domesticus, The T. molitor fatty acid profile is more favorable. We therefore, hypothesized that mealworms, specifically have an essential omega-6: omega-3 fatty acid ratio closer to the ideal of 1:1 for human health. We conducted a global survey of commercially available food quality mealworm powdered products and found only two companies with these products, one in Canada and one in the Netherlands. Europeans and Euro-Americans like processed products but are watchful over their Omega 6:3 ratio intake. Producers favor a high ratio of omega 6:3 fatty acids because it significantly extends shelf life of chips, bars, and baked goods. We were able to obtain 4 different A. domesticus and T. molitor powders which we extracted with sulfuric acid/methanol/hexane/chloroform and quantitatively analyzed with an Agilent Technologies #5975C GCMS using a DB-23 60m column with penta-decanoic standard solutions. We hope that our research will lead Euro-Americans in the US to diversity as we transition into more environmentally friendly meat sources in face of climate changes with land and water scarcities.