Abstract

Food habits of the present generation has undergone a transformation especially after advent of the fast food. Tastes in food are generally a matter of style, a popular fancy. Mankind eats so many things including meat of the several kind of animals from snakes to snails are delicacies. There is an absurd prejudice against insects. Some insects are important source of essential dietary elements in the countries like Australia, Africa, Asia and America. In India, the insects are the staple food of the tribals. Among them, beetles, bugs, cockroaches, locust, grasshoppers and crickets, moth butterflies and their larval and pupal stages, ants, bees and wasps are consumed as food. The other animals like rats and snakes, lizards, toads, frogs and snails, are used in some form or the other as food, mostly by the tribals in India and delicacy in China. The crunchy little ants and some beetles have medicinal value, also serve as delicacy in China’s Longevity Restaurants. Termites are rich in fat, proteins, phosphate and potash content consumed as tribal food. In the present paper, the main thrust has been given on the food products of animal origin consumed mostly by the tribal population living in and around the forest and dependent upon them.

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