Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 European Food Research and Technology https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-020-03649-y ORIGINAL PAPER Evaluation of nutritional composition and ecotoxicity of the stick insect Cladomorphus phyllinum Vanderleia Botton 1  · Luana Marcele Chiarello 1  · Guilherme Alan Klunk 2  · Dielen Marin 1  · Luana Curbani 1  · Marcel Jeferson Gonçalves 1  · Marcelo Diniz Vitorino 2 Received: 13 July 2020 / Revised: 6 November 2020 / Accepted: 7 November 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract The global population is estimated to reach 9 billion at 2050; thus, there will be an increase of food demand. In this sce- nario, edible insects can be considered as an option for both food and supplements source. In this work was evaluated the nutritional aspects of Cladomorphus phyllinum, also known as stick insect. Protein, carbohydrates, amino acids, lipids, fatty acids, minerals and ecotoxicity were analyzed. The raw sample had protein, carbohydrate, ester and lipid content of 17.96%, 8.33%, 15.23% and 1.85%, respectively, while the dry sample presented 64.6% protein content. It has been found that the dry stick insect presented the essential amino acids, leucine, isoleucine, valine, lysine, threonine, methionine, phenylalanine and histidine. Oleic acid (57.03%), palmitic acid (15.94%), linoleic acid (13.76%) and stearic acid (10.67%) were also found in dry samples. The micronutrients calcium, magnesium and zinc were the minerals with expressive concentrations. Besides, acute ecotoxicity tests performed with extremely sensitive species, Daphnia magna, Vibrio fischeri and Artemia Salina, revealed no toxicity associated with the Cladomorphus phyllinum. These results obtained in this work indicate that the stick insect can be used as an alternative insect-based protein, minerals, fatty acids and amino source. Keyword Edible insect · Stick insect · Protein · Amino acid profle · Fatty acid profle Introduction Insects are considered sustainable protein and are also important environmentally and economically as alternative food source [1, 2]. Furthermore, the projections indicate that protein consumption will double by 2050 with the increase of world population [3]. In this way, other advantages for insects are as follows: insect breeding demands smaller amounts of water, releases less greenhouse gases and needs up considerably smaller spaces than other systems or pro- teins production such as cattle, poultry and pigs. Insects are already recognized as an important source of protein for diferent cultures, such as Mexico, Africa and Southeast Asia countries [4, 5]. Edible insects are used as food to feed people and animals as nutritional source. It is estimated that in the world are consumed 2,000 species increasing as research results have been released [5]. The most consumed groups are beetles (Coleoptera) (31%), moth or butterfy caterpillars (Lepidoptera) (18%) bees, wasps and ants (Hymenoptera) (14%), grasshoppers, and crickets (Orthoptera) (13%), cicadas, scales, and true bugs (Hemip- tera) (10%), termites (Isoptera) (3%), dragonfies (Odonata) (3%), fies (Diptera) (2%) and others (5%) [3, 6]. They may be consumed in many stages as eggs, larvae, pupae and adults [7]. Among the potential nutrients from insects are the pro- teins, amino acids, lipids monounsaturated and polyunsatu- rated fatty acids, carbohydrates and minerals, e.g. calcium, iron and zinc [8]. Although edible insects are considered to have high protein content and high variety of micronutrients, their nutritional composition can show variations according to species, geographical distribution, feeding habits, meta- morphic phase, food quality and seasonal factors [9]. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-020-03649-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Vanderleia Botton vanderleiabotton@furb.br 1 Chemical Engineering Department, University of Blumenau- FURB, Blumenau, SC, Brazil 2 Forestry Engineering Department, University of Blumenau-FURB, Blumenau, SC, Brazil