Hong Kong Caterpillar Biscuits for Stunting Treatment in Children

Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014 recorded that 24.5% of toddlers in the world were stunted. Indonesia is the country with the fifth largest stunting prevalence with a prevalence of 36% (7,547 total stunting children) in 2019.

Stunting is a condition of chronic malnutrition that occurs during the earliest period of child growth and development. The Ministry of Health explained that the impact of malnutrition can cause KEP (Protein Energy Deficiency), KEK (Calorie Energy Deficiency). The impact is that toddlers will be more susceptible to infections, the emergence of chronic diseases, and the existence of barriers to child development.

At the age of five, protein functions as a builder and repair of all tissues in the body, including child development. As well as replacing damaged tissue and metabolism.

Responding to these conditions, students of the Animal Science Faculty of Universitas Brawijaya (ASF UB) develop innovative products from livestock that can help solve problems in the health sector. Together with Dr. Dedes Amertaningtyas, S.Pt., MP, a team consisting of Retno Nur Fadillah, Sularso, Yasri Rahmawati, Hendarto, and Zuhdan Alaik made biscots. Namely the Hong Kong caterpillar protein biscuits as a stunting treatment in children.

According to Sularso, the protein content in the Hong Kong caterpillar larvae is quite high, namely 47.44% with a fat content of 21.84%. As well as amino acids in the form of taurine amounting to 17.53% which is very much needed during child development. Because taurine is the second most common type of amino acid in breast milk which functions as a neurotransmitter and plays an important role in the maturation process of brain cells.

“The Hong Kong caterpillar or also known as mealworm is usually cultivated only to be used as poultry feed because it has a high nutritional content. But actually this caterpillar is included in the coleoptera order which is the fourth order, meaning that it is most consumed by humans. ” explained SularsoHong Kong

The processing process for thecaterpillar is washed and dried then oven. Then mashed using a blender and filtered the water, then mixed into the dough from flour, sugar, and eggs.  

Through this research they succeeded in winning a silver medal in an international event entitled Asean Innovative Science Environmental and Entrepreneur Fair (AISEEF) 2021. Namely an annual international competition between Asian universities in the fields of science, environment and entrepreneurship.

There are four categories that are contested, namely entrepreneur (business plan, management, marketing), social science, environmental science (the interaction of physical, chemical, and environmental biological components and the relationship and effects of these components with organisms on the environment), and innovation science (innovation in the field of Applied Physics, Chemistry and Biology which can be in the form of application products, props and creative findings).

AISEEF was held Thursday – Monday, (18-22 / 02/2021) by the Indonesian Young Scientist Association (IYSA) in collaboration with the Food Technology Department – Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Nutrition Department – Diponegoro University (UNDIP), Dian Nuswantoro University ( UDINUS), Indonesia International Institute for Life Sciences (i3L), Indonesian Educator Achievement Foundation, Malang Raya Association of Indonesian Adiwiyata Activists, and AISEEF Organizing Committee. (dta)