Allen Carson Cohen
CRC Press LLC
Boca Raton, FL
2004; 324 pp.
Price: $129.00, ISBN: 0-8493-1577-8

Several text books and monographs have been written about insect diets, particularly on insect diet formulations. This text book, however, is not a laboratory manual of procedures or a “cookbook” of insect diet recipes; this book gives a comprehensive account of how various ingredients and processing techniques make insect diets function properly. The book provides a detailed explanation of the nutrient classes in terms of insects’ nutritional requirements. The author explains insect diets in terms of overall insect feeding behavior and biology including feeding stimuli, food ingestion, digestion, absorption, and metabolism. The book explains the effects and importance of various processing steps in the preparation of diets, physical and chemical interactions of the various diet components, and the importance of the application of a quality assessment program in rearing systems.

One of the most important aspects of this book is that it incorporates the knowledge of and literature on food science and technology as applied to humans and livestock (Chapter 1), and urges insect diet workers to use the vast information available there. Chapter 2 deals with diet terminology, the history of insect diet science, and some of the breakthroughs in developing insect diets. Chapter 3 is a description of various insect diet components and their specific functions. These include all the nutrient classes and various additives to diets such as protective ingredients, nutritionally inert ingredients that are used in diets to provide texture and chelating agents. This chapter also provides a nutritional profile of five prominent diet components (wheat germ, soy flour, egg yolk, broccoli florets, and beef liver), which readers may find useful when planning to develop a diet. In Chapter 4, the author asks the question, “What makes a diet successful or unsuccessful?” and provides answers by drawing examples from various past failures and successes. The chemistry and physics of insect diets are covered in Chapter 5 with important discussions on bioenergetics, importance of water, pH, buffers, antioxidants, texture and physical qualities of diets, and the chemistry of various nutrient classes and their importance in diets.

Once a good diet is developed and adopted for rearing, it is risky to make changes in the diet or in the procedures; this aspect of rearing with some suggestions for making effective changes if and when necessary are presented in Chapter 6. Chapter 7 provides a comprehensive discussion of insect feeding biology, including descriptions of mouthparts, digestion, and the absorption and utilization of nutrients (with photos and illustrations). Chapter 8, “Order in Nature and Complexity in Insect Diets,” examines “some innocuous factors that can become amplified and lead to undesired outcomes in insect rearing facilities.” The author gives various examples and describes various factors that influence diet complexity.

Chapter 9 provides an understanding of how the knowledge of insect nutritional ecology links with the development of effective artificial diets. The reader will also find a comprehensive discussion on “efficiency indices” as defined in nutritional ecology. Chapter 10 gives some guidelines to develop artificial insect diets and discusses difficulties in diet development methodologies. Chapter 11 discusses problem-solving strategies, quality assessment, and quality control standards that must be observed in order to rear quality insects. Chapter 12 discusses equipment that is used for processing insect diets. The discussion includes both small and large scale applications. Chapter 13 discusses microorganisms in diet setting, which includes microbes that are beneficial as well as those that cause disease, and describes how to deal with microbial contaminants of insect diet. Chapter 14 deals with ‘safety and good insectary practices’ and discusses all aspects of safety issues connected with insectary management.

The final chapter (15) presents the “future prospects for insect diets,” emphasizes the practice of applying principles from food science and food technology, the necessity of the development of highly refined bioassays, and applying advanced technology for detecting and handling microbial contaminants, and suggests new curricula for 21st century insect diet professionals.

The book contains eight appendixes including a glossary, the chronological history of insect diet, lists of vitamin and mineral mixtures used in diets, procedures of quality assessment of microbial counts in rearing facilities, diet components and prepared diets, measures of antioxidant activities, quality control of environmental parameters, accuracy and precision in measuring diet components, and bioassays in diet development. A comprehensive list of references and index complete the book.

Insect Diets: Science and Technology is as an excellent reference and  laboratory guide for insect diet professionals, insectary managers, and students of entomology who are interested in insect rearing. Because of its comprehensive treatment of insect nutrition and the physiology of feeding, this book also can be used as a supplementary reading for an insect physiology or structure and function course.

Muhammad F. Chaudhury
Screwworm Research Unit
USDA–ARS, Chiapa de Corzo, Mexico
E-mail: Mchaudhury2@aol.com
American Entomologist
Vol. 52, No.1, Spring 2006