Wild sericigenous insect Cricula trifenestrata: A potential source of nutrients

Cricula trifenestrata, a wild sericigenous insect commonly known as “Aamkutoni” in Assam is a pest of the semi domesticated silkworm Antheraea assama. It is a holometabolous insect which completes its life cycle in four stages i.e. egg, larva, pupa and adult. It voraciously feeds on varieties of food plants and one of them is Persea bombycina the primary host plant of muga silkworm. This silkworm is widely distributed in Assam throughout the year; 4-5 breeds are available per year in wild and it produces the lustrous golden silk thread. However, due to its porous cocoon it is neglected for rearing purpose. Most interestingly this wild silkworm is taken as a delicious item by the ethnic people of Dhemaji, but till date no any literature is available on the edibility of this precious creature. They used to consume this silkworm species as a delicious item from time immemorial. This species has been collected from the forest areas of Dhemaji and analyzed for its nutritional compositions (proximate compositions, amino acid, fatty acid, minerals) and as well as anti-nutritional compositions. Cricula trifenestrata contains good quantity of macronutrients (49.08% moisture, 59.8% protein, 21.74% fat, 10.78% fibre, 5.12 % ash and 449.6 kcal energy respectively). In addition, this species also contains the minerals (1.56% calcium, 1.13% magnesium, 24.5% manganese, 2% iron, 24% sodium, 59.6% potassium, 0.74% copper, and 5.6% zinc). Cricula trifenestrata is also a good source of amino acids and fatty acids. On the contrary two anti-nutrients tannin and phytic acid (mg/g) 2.01 ± 0.11and 263.15 ± 0.24 are also recorded in this species. The present study has shown that this species is a good source of macronutrients as well as micronutrients which may contribute a lot to overcome the malnutrition. However anti-nutrients tannin and phytic acid are also recorded. Therefore, consumption of this species with controlled manner or after processing can supplement the nutritional contents. The controlled rearing of Cricula trifenestrata may also be beneficial for fulfilling the nutritional need of the people.