Impact of iron-enriched diets on the nutritional composition and microbiome diversity of house crickets (Acheta domesticus)

Feeding house crickets (Acheta domesticus) iron-enriched diets raised body iron up to 118.34 mg/kg (from 21.38 mg/kg), without changing microbiome diversity across treatments.

• Why it matters: Iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anaemia are common where plant-based diets dominate, and edible insects could help, but it is unclear how dietary iron affects trace elements and gut microbes.
• What they did: Crickets were reared on diets made with iron (II) sulphate heptahydrate spanning 333.45 mg Fe/kg to 6923.39 mg Fe/kg, then growth, nutrient/trace-element profiles, and microbiome community diversity were measured.
• The result: Iron supplementation significantly shifted trace elements and some nutritional markers (e.g., dry matter, chitin, TBARS) and altered amino acid patterns, while microbial diversity and overall community structure stayed unaffected; a 10–25 mmol Fe/kg dose is recommended.

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