Practices of Entomophagy and Entomotherapy in Cebu Island, Philippines

Jake Joshua  C. Garces,; Zandra  O. Jarito,; Leslie Ann  T. Barriga,; Froilen  C. Domecillo,; Nimfa   R. Pansit,

Practices of Entomophagy and Entomotherapy in Cebu Island, Philippines

Jake Joshua C Garces | Zandra O Jarito | Leslie Ann T Barriga | Froilen C Domecillo | Nimfa R Pansit

Abstract:

The different features of entomophagy and entomotherapy practiced by the key informants and local villagers in Cebu Island, Philippines were documented. A survey was conducted in remote areas of Barangay Alambijud, Argao and Barangay Lusaran, Cebu City, Cebu from June-October,2012 to discover the medicinal and edible uses of different insect species in these sites. Fourteen key informants were identified with the aid of two sampling methods- snowball technique and purposive sampling. Open-ended questionnaires were employed to obtain authentic and significant information from the key informants. An inventory on the knowledge on the wild edible and medicinal insects in the study areas is presented here. Results showed that these key informants profusely utilized wide range of biological resources in diverse ways, and thus contribute to their daily activities. As a whole, the factors that influenced their entomological practices include their socio-demographic and educational background, accessibility to urban societies and the open availability of certain resources particularly the insects they use and the influence brought about by their family and community. Moreover, these informants had different insects used in their practices, and they had their ways of preparing and administering these as medicines and food. Regardless of these differences, all of them were able to perceive that the insects used as medicine and food were equally beneficial to them. Traditional knowledge regarding entomotherapy and entomophagy in Cebu is very essential since folk medicine is still one of the most important resources for food and discovery of unknown natural drug resources. It is indicated that these medicinal and edible insects are comparable with other conventional food commodities by incorporating scientific validation to the traditional knowledge.