Scientists believe Cockroach milk could potentially feed millions in the future

Image Courtesy: metro UK

According to a new research, protein found in cockroach midgut  is 4 times more nutritious than cow’s milk and could potentially feed the growing population in the future.

Most cockroaches don’t actually produce milk, however, a particular species of the insect called Diploptera punctate, give birth to live young ones rather than lay eggs. It produces a type of milk that contains the protein crystals to feed its offsprings.

According to the research, a single crystal of this protein can contain 4 times the energy contained in the same amount of buffalo milk. Although, it isn’t exactly feasible to extract milk from cockroach in bulk, researchers from the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine in India are trying replicate the protein crystals in the lab.

“The crystals are like a complete food – they have proteins, fats and sugars. If you look into the protein sequences, they have all the essential amino acids,” said Sanchari Banerjee, one of the researchers to TOI

Not only is this milk high with nutrients, it’s also time released. Meaning, the milk produces protein at an equivalent rate during digestion to enable steady absorption.

“if you need food that is calorifically high, that is time released and food that is complete. This is it.,” said lead researcher, Subramanian Ramaswamy.

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