{"id":2286,"date":"2021-10-22T18:03:24","date_gmt":"2021-10-22T22:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/?p=2286"},"modified":"2024-05-17T12:10:35","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T16:10:35","slug":"umes-doctoral-students-research-featured-in-pbs-nova-documentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/for-the-media\/news-releases\/umes-doctoral-students-research-featured-in-pbs-nova-documentary\/","title":{"rendered":"UMES doctoral student’s research featured in PBS NOVA documentary"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What tastes like shrimp or seafood?  It might have a \u201ccitrusy flavor\u201d or be \u201coily and salty like popcorn.\u201d  Could be crunchy like a \u201cFrito or chip\u201d or \u201csmushy like pudding.\u201d  They come in all shapes and sizes, and if you guessed edible insects, a world food protein source on the rise, you guessed correctly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFive years ago I was deathly afraid of insects, so I went from running from them, to chasing them, to eating them\u2014now that\u2019s revenge!,\u201d said Ebony Jenkins<\/strong>, a food and agricultural sciences doctoral student at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenkins is a budding entomophagist.  No, it\u2019s not misspelled.  The field is not entomology, more commonly known, it\u2019s entomophagy\u2014the study of rearing insects for human consumption, feed and biological controls.  She and her research advisor, Dr. Simon Zebelo, an associate professor of entomology and plant biology, tout cicadas, crickets and mealworms among others as a safe, economical and nutritious source of protein. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their thoughts and research have gained national attention.  The Public Broadcasting System\u2019s premiere science series, NOVA, featured Jenkins on its Season 48, Episode 14 \u201cEdible Insects,<\/a>\u201d which aired for the first time on Wednesday, October 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know it was showing, I just ran across it,\u201d Jenkins said.  \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it!  I have watched it 10 times since airing. I\u2019m still in shock and grateful for the opportunity. They could have chosen anyone, but they choose me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenkins weighed in on the documentary on her work focusing on improving insects as a source of nutrition and modifying what they eat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of my objectives is to understand the optimization of feed for various insects,\u201d she explained.  \u201cYou are what you eat, so whatever they eat they\u2019re able to metabolize and we can benefit from those items that are present in their system.  So, for example, if you add more calcium or more of something like that to their diet they are able to ingest that and pass that on (to whatever eats them).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe trick for researchers like Ebony,\u201d the announcer reads, \u201cis to create a diet that insects will not only choose to eat, but which loads them with bonus nutrients.  But beyond nutrients, Ebony wants to investigate the potential for food to deliver medicines. Her focus is on CBD from cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are analyzing the crickets to see how they metabolize CBD for medicinal purposes. We just add those drops (of cannabidiol) to the feed and mix it up and we\u2019re just going to let them eat it and see what the CBD is doing inside of the cricket.\u201d  The research ties in with other multi-disciplinary research taking place through UMES\u2019 Industrial Hemp Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf Ebony is successful,\u201d the announcer reads, \u201cinsects bred on customized food could one day treat both your hunger and your health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But is the U.S. ready? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI believe that there are going to be many opportunities.  This is going to open the door for a lot of people, and we\u2019re going to be seeing insect-based products soon on our shelves,\u201d Jenkins said.  \u201cWhat I would say to anyone that\u2019s nervous (about eating insects) is, I\u2019m right there with you still, I\u2019m right there with you still.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Why eat insects?  What\u2019s wrong with continuing to consume meat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver two million people in the world currently consume insects as a protein source,\u201d Jenkins said.  \u201cThe insect-based world food market is currently valued at $105 million and is estimated to grow to $1.5 billion by 2021.  Although the trend has not been readily adopted in the U.S., consuming insects makes sense economically and environmentally, she said, since insects use less energy, feed, land and water to raise than livestock.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only are they economically and environmentally ideal, they are also nutritious and plentiful.  Of known animal species, two-thirds are insects.  Edible insects, and there are over 2,000 varieties, are full of polyunsaturated fat, trace minerals and micronutrients and, especially, protein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCrickets contain more than twice the amount of protein compared to steak on the same weight basis,\u201d Jenkins said.  \u201cCrickets and mealworms raised on U.S. farms have also been shown to lack common foodborne pathogens such as salmonella, staph, E. coli and listeria.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cResearch is in its early days, but Ebony\u2019s confidence is high,\u201d the announcer reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce we have the (research) findings,\u201d she said. \u201cI believe that it\u2019s going to take off, because people want to know how they can become healthier, and if we can make people\u2019s lives better\u2014we did our job.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Snow Hill, Maryland, native transferred to UMES after earning an associate\u2019s degree at Wor-Wic Community College.  She went on to complete bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees at UMES in food and agriculture focusing on host preference and population dynamics in arthropod pollinators.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gail Stephens, agricultural communications, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, gcstephens@umes.edu<\/a>, 410-621-3850.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PRINCESS ANN, MD- (October 22, 2021)-Ebony Jenkins, a food and agricultural sciences doctoral student at UMES, is a budding entomophagist studying rearing insects for human consumption, feed and biological controls. She and her research advisor, Dr. Simon Zebelo, an associate professor of entomology and plant biology, tout cicadas, crickets and mealworms among others as a safe, economical and nutritious source of protein. Their thoughts and research have gained national attention. The Public Broadcasting System\u2019s premiere science series, NOVA, featured Jenkins on its Season 48, Episode 14 \u201cEdible Insects,\u201d which aired for the first time on Wednesday, October 20….Read more UMES doctoral student’s research featured in PBS NOVA documentary<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":19,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-2286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2286\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2286"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=2286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}