411 Türk. entomol. derg., 2010, 34 (4): 411-417 ISSN 1010-6960 Orijinal araştırma (Original article) Biomonitoring of the genotoxic potentials of two edible insects species in vitro Hasan TÜRKEZ 1* Ümit İNCEKARA 1 Orhan ERMAN 2 Summary In this study, we evaluated the genotoxic potentials of water soluble extracts of grasshoppers, Saga ephippigera ephippigera Fischer de Waldheim, 1846 and Callimenus dilatatus (Stal, 1876) (Orthoptera) on cultured human blood cells. The chromosome aberration (CA) and micronucleus (MN) tests were used to assess the DNA and chromosomal damage produced by aqueous extracts in vitro. The extracts were added to the cultures at eight different concentrations (1, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mg/l). Our results indicated that these extracts did not show genotoxic effects at the tested concentrations. We conclude that this in vitro approach for biomonitoring genotoxicity assessment may be useful to compare the potential health risks of edible insects. Keywords: Edible insects, genotoxicity, human blood culture, micronucleus, chromosome aberration Anahtar sözcükler: Yenilebilir böcekler, genotoksisite, insan kan kültürü, mikroçekirdek, kromozom aberasyonu Introduction The insects have been considered as an important food source in different regions of the world like Africa, Australia, Asia and the America due to their valuable nutritional contents. On the other hand, some of these edible insects such as Hydrophilus piceus Linnaeus, 1758 also used in alternative medicine (Rams–Elorduy, 1997; Jäch, 2003; Morris, 2004). It was reported that about 1500 insect species has been consumed by humans (Food-Info, 2009). Of these, grasshopper species are more widely used for human consumption in many countries and are important as a source of protein as well as traditional cultural delicacies in various part of the world. Two grasshopper species Saga ephippigera ephippigera Fischer de Waldheim, 1846 (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) and Callimenus dilatatus (Stal, 1876) (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae), treated here, are the largest members of the 1 Atatürk University, Science Faculty, Department of Biology, 25240 Erzurum, Turkey 2 Fırat University, Science and Arts Faculty, Department of Biology, 23169 Elazığ, Turkey * Sorumlu yazar (Corresponding autor) e-mail: hasanturkez@gmail.com Alınış (Received): 25.12.2009 Kabul ediliş (Accepted): 15.04.2010