Insects as food sources

Entomophagy, the practice of eating insects, has demonstrated increasing interest due to related nutritional value (high protein content), health benefits (bioactive compounds) and low-environmental impact (usage of less resource and reduced pollutants levels). Insects are a non-conventional source of protein, which have a great potential to be used as functional ingredients, in a non-recognizable form. Recent advances in enzymatic hydrolysis of insect protein have shown to be a promising technology for the exploitation of their bioactive properties. The production of insect peptides has been focused on antioxidant, antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic and antimicrobial properties. Nonetheless, processing and food safety of these compounds need further studies for their optimization. This chapter highlights the fact that insects can provide sustainable and functional ingredients and details the procedures related to the production of insect peptides as well as their bioactive properties.