The role of insects
seven bacterial isolates and found high antibacterial activity. They concluded that the oil could potentially be used as a preservative in meat and meat products to control gram-positive bacteria (most pathogens in humans are gram-positive). Research has also shown that only very slight chemical changes take place in melon bug oil preserved at temperatures below 30 째C for two years. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the oxidative stability of sunflower kernel oil was improved by blending it with the highly stable edible oils of the melon bug (as well as the sorghum bug) (Mariod et al., 2005). The sorghum bug (Agonoscelis pubescens) is consumed in Sudan and is known locally as dura (the main pest of sorghum) in both rainfed and irrigated areas. The bugs hibernate from September to December, when they can be found on trees in clusters or in crevices between rocks (van Huis, 2003b). People in the Nuba Mountains in Kurdufan can often be found collecting the insects from these crevices. In western parts of the former Sudan, sorghum bug adults are collected and eaten after frying, and in some areas oil is extracted from the bugs and used for cooking and in medicine. In the Botana area of the former Sudan, nomads use the tar obtained from the bugs after they have been heated to treat their camels for dermatological infections (Mariod, Matth채us and Eichner, 2004). The potential use of these bug oils as biodiesel has been explored, opening insect-related research to an entirely new field (Mariod et al., 2006).
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