Nutritional Composition of a Short Horned Grasshopper, Oedaleus abruptus (Thunberg) (Orthoptera : Acrididae) and its Prospect as Food of Livestock

For the livestock industries and aquaculture the demand for protein rich feed stuff has been escalated. The cost of conventional feed resources such as soymeal and fishmeal are very high and their availability in the future will be limited. Grasshopper in nature constitutes a significant biomass and they can provide alternative source of food for poultry and fish. In the present study proximate analysis, energy and anti-nutritional factor estimation were conducted for grasshopper species. Oedaleus abruptus in order to determine the nutritional quality of this species. The experiment revealed that O. abruptus has a higher amount of protein content (58%) in comparison to the conventional soybean and fishmeal. A high amount (572 kcal /100 gm) of calorie content was also evident. On the other hand, anti-nutritional factors were negligible. So, the obtained result show the prospect of sustainable utilization of grasshopper as alternative protein rich feed ingredient in the food of fish and livestock.