Edible black ant Smith (Carebara vidua) as human food – A systematic review

Abstract

Meeting food security is one of the major global challenges to ensure sufficient supply of food for current and future generations, considering increasing population growth and climate change issues. Consequently, the consumption of edible insects as an alternative food source has recently gained global attention for combating global food insecurity. The present review aims to provide information on the recent progress in consumption of edible black ant Smith, particularly Carebara vidua, as the main focus. The global consumption record of edible black ant Smith and consumer acceptance as well as the strategies used to increase consumer acceptance of eating edible black ant smith were proposed. In addition, the bioecology of black ant Smith was covered in this review. Further, details are provided in this review on the benefits to health, economy, and environment of practicing eating edible insects such as black ant Smith. Focus on the potential uses of Carebara vidua as a food ingredient in culinary cuisine and their safety concerns from rearing until processing were highlighted. The SCOPUS database was analysed using bibliometric software to understand the connections between recent scientific outputs and ant as human food thoroughly. BioRender software was used to create scientific figures. It is noteworthy to highlight that black ant smith contains high protein and micronutrient, especially iron and zinc are higher than that of plant-, animal-based food, and seafood that contribute significantly to meeting the daily protein and mineral intake amount for human. Moreover, the exhibition of antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of edible black ant smith suggests that it can be used as a future functional ingredients for food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics purposes. Hence, edible black ant smith is promising as an alternative and potential source of food or medicine for sustainable food security.