Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
31 December 2018 | Story Igno van Niekerk | Photo Igno van Niekerk
Insects on the menu
Beetle juice and bug flour; Drs Ismari van der Merwe and Cariena Bothma are researching the possibility of a high-protein diet consisting of insect ingredients.

You’ve just had a tasty milkshake made from grasshopper juice, now for a light snack. Your choice: Salty cricket cookies or a deep-fried ant delight?

One of these days the above delicatessen may just find its way to your local restaurant menu if Drs Ismari van der Merwe, Cariena Bothma, both lecturers in the Department of Consumer Science, and their enthusiastic team of students have their way. Insects as food are rich in protein, often tasty, and having them on a menu is not as far-fetched as you may think. After all, we know what culinary delights mopani worms – and yes – cooked land snails (enjoyed as escargots) have become over the years.

 

Cricket smackerals

 

When Dr Van der Mewe explains the benefits of her team’s vision for a high-protein diet consisting of insect ingredients (cricket flour as an example), one becomes aware that this could be the solution to a myriad of problems. Insects eat much less than our regular menu items such as cows (beef), sheep (lamb chops) or pigs (pork). Insects as an alternative diet will reduce the negative impact that larger animals have on the environment and greenhouse gases. Insects have faster life cycles and it takes less effort and space to breed and feed them.

“Ugh! Ick! Disgusting,” you might think. But picture the taste lab where volunteers are given regular chocolate cookies made with regular flour, and then asked to compare it with cookies made from cricket flour. Dr van der Merwe assures me that most people will be unable to distinguish between them, often even preferring the cricket smackerals.

 

Heathy alternative

 

Insect breakfast cereals, granola, and snack food is a real and viable solution for the developing world where food is scarce, and hunger is a real issue. But is it healthy? Dr Van der Merwe assures me that during the process of ‘bug to flour’, they are addressing the main concern: micro-organisms that might be detrimental to health. Once the insects or processed insect by-products arrive on your plate, it’s a healthy high-protein alternative that might become the next revolutionary diet.

So, stand aside Atkins, beware Banting, and be gone Gluten-free – there is a new diet on its way to the menu. Brace yourself for beetle juice and bug flour: a diet full of proteins, fat, energy, and essential amino acids. 

 

News Archive

Three minutes for research
2015-09-07

When you have only three minutes in which to explain an 80 000-word thesis, every second counts. This is what researchers from across the country realised during the first national round of South Africa’s Three-minute thesis competition.

The University of the Free State (UFS) Postgraduate School hosted this international competition on the Bloemfontein Campus, where master’s and doctoral students from 12 universities participated. During the competition, each researcher had to give a presentation on his/her research within three minutes.

Dr Henriette van den Berg, Director of the UFS’s Postgraduate School, and presenter of the two-day competition, said the competition is the ideal platform to teach researchers how to become effective research communicators.

“It is important that researchers should learn to communicate the essence of their research to audiences that aren’t necessarily specialists in the field. They should also be able to emphasise how their research contributes to the success and well-being of communities. Researchers often have to explain to persons who aren’t specialists in their specific research area the reasons why it is important to fund the research, for example, or during a work interview. They should be able to convey the essence of their research effectively in a very short time.”

The 3MT competition, which originated at the University of Queensland in Australia, has in 2010 developed into an international trend since its inception. Currently, the 3MT is presented in Australia, the USA, and the UK.

For the competition, participants are given just three minutes to explain their research. In this time, they have to explain the problem and the methodology, as well as why this research is important. Participants are allowed to make use of only one piece of static imaging material for support.

A panel of judges from the participating universities were selected to assess each presentation, based on how well participants expressed themselves in such a short time, and on their choice of imagery.

Gavin Robinson from the University of Johannesburg, Cameron McIntosh, and Ingrid Alleman, both from the UFS, were the respective winners in the categories for doctoral and master’s students.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept