Nutritional value of representative termite species with an emphasis on Odontotermes obesus (Rambur)

Dewinged termite imagoes are considered to be delicious human food around the world. The nutrient composi-tion may vary with respect to the species. In the present study, imagoes of three termite species, viz. Odontoter-mes obesus, Coptotermes heimi and Microtermes obesi were used to compare their protein composition. Addi-tionally, the commonest species, O. obesus was used for proximate and mineral composition analysis. The nutri-tional analysis of termites indicated a higher percent-age of protein in C. heimi, followed by O. obesus. The proximate analysis of O. obesus imagoes revealed a higher proportion of crude fat followed by crude protein. Macrominerals were recorded in a higher proportion with potassium as one of the major minerals followed by sodium, while in microelements iron and zinc were represented in greater quantities.