South Korean researchers recently added to that growing body of work and developed a desirable “meat-like” texture from yellow mealworm beetle larvae ( Tenebrio molitor) by cooking it with sugar. As such, scientists are developing ways to make them more palatable.

Insects are a sustainable food source often packed with protein. Even so, fried grasshoppers remain a hard sell in much of the Western world. Researchers say they’ve created an appealing meat substitute from mealworms and recently presented their work at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society.Īt least 2 billion people eat insects as part of their diets, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.As the global population grows along with concerns of food shortages in the future, scientists are developing ways to make sustainable food sources like mealworms more palatable.However, most Westerners find the idea of eating insects unappealing.Insects are a known sustainable source of protein consumed by millions of people around the world.

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