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Most tribal and ethnic communities in India have preserved the knowledge of edible insects as a source of food and traditional medicines. Mayurbhanj being a tribal-dominated district in Odisha state, is inhabited by many tribes that find their source of livelihood from forest products. A major part of Mayurbhanj is surrounded by the Similipal Biosphere Reserve (SBR) which offers varieties of insects throughout the year. In this current study, the traditional uses of edible insects were documented through field surveys and open questionnaires from village elders in the three tribal dominated blocks (Kusumi, Bangriposi and Saraskana) in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, India. Out of 15 species of edible insects documented, Oecophylla smaragdina, Macrotermes subhyalinus, Antheraea mylitta, Apis indica, and Myrmeleon were the most commonly consumed insects in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. Further, most of the perceived edible insects were season-specific and found between June to September month which are pre-monsoon and post-monsoon periods. Thus, mostly the Santhal, Kolho, Bhumija, Khadia and Bathudi tribes utilize most of the edible insects for their nutritional and medicinal applications. These edible insects can be employed to have a prominent role in fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations as these edible insects can provide employment as well as nutrition to the tribes inhabiting in forest hamlets. These insects with their unique health promoting advantages can supplement meals with exclusive pharmacological properties.
Nayak et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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