Nutritional and health benefits of Cameroonian grasshopper (Ruspolia nitidula) meal: effects on libido, sleep, hair growth and hunger in rats

Against a backdrop of insufficient food production for a rapidly growing world population, the search for alternative resources, particularly low-cost proteins with a negligible ecological footprint, is a vital issue. Biochemical studies have revealed coveted nutritional compositions in edible insects. Moreover, edible grasshoppers are often abundant for several months at a time in many parts of Cameroon. This study assessed the qualitative and quantitative contribution of the edible grasshopper (Ruspolia nitidula) meal in Cameroon to rat feed. The Clupea harengus fishmeal classically used was substituted by R. nitidula meal. Rats (n = 216, 108 males and 108 females) aged 10 weeks and weighing (165.15 ± 6.10) g were divided into 3 batches of 72 rats each. Rats in batches 1 and 2 were fed diets prepared from R. nitidula and C. harengus meal, respectively. Rats in batch 3 were fed a ration deficient in protein. The average body weight with R. nitidula meal was (180.10 ± 12.34) g and (172.76 ± 11.17) g with C. harengus meal. These values fell sharply with the protein deficient diet ((146.15 ± 8.65) g). What’s more, 94.58% of the hairs examined were in better condition for all animals fed R. nitidula meal, compared with 5.55% and 0.27% respectively for rats fed C. harengus meal and protein-free diets. In addition, R. nitidula meal boosted libido by + 4.77 intromissions per hour, boosted by + 1.26 ejaculations per hour compared to animals fed protein-free diets. Sleep was improved by 11.95, 5.99 and – 4.65 h/week on R. nitidula, C. harengus and protein-free diets respectively. No significant differences were observed between males and females. In addition to improving sexual desire and copulation frequency in rats, R. nitidula meal is a good candidate for improving hair aesthetics, sleep and fertility in rats suffering from hair loss, insomnia and infertility.