Future nutraceuticals from minor faunal species: source of novel pharmaceuticals & eco-livelihood

Background In today’s world, people are facing a food security crisis and unavailability of adequate medicines due to urbanization and consistent increase in the human population. There are several cases of hunger and malnutrition in India, and at the same time, a lot of health problems include microbial infections and poor immunity. To overcome these problems, researchers are searching for unexplored foods with medicinal values that could be nutraceuticals and sources of future pharmaceuticals. Unexplored faunal species are overlooked among the therapeutic foods. Keeping this in mind, the authors conducted field surveys in selected districts of Odisha and Jharkhand states of India during 2022–2023 to document the edible minor faunal species that are consumed by the tribal communities as nutraceuticals. Results Through standard procedures and interaction with the local communities, the authors enumerated 31 edible minor faunal species that have both medicinal and food benefits. 26 species of fish, 3 species of insects, and 1 species of each of freshwater crab and freshwater snail make up the 31 minor faunal species. Fish additionally contains fatty acids, which are vital for human health, and the identified minor faunal food are potent in protein and fiber. It has been noted that most of the known edible faunal species are eaten to alleviate fatigue, weakness, heart issues, iron deficiency, and to get vitamins and minerals naturally without any harmful chemicals. Conclusion Several overlooked edible faunal species remain unexplored and may prove to be valuable sources of nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. The study concludes that 31 species have been identified to have food and therapeutic uses. This finding is also corroborated by the work of other researchers who have added pharmaceutical uses. The study also encourages to carry out cutting-edge research for long-term use, to solve the issues of adequate food and medicine, and to find new potential pharmaceuticals.