Let’s say I were stranded somewhere in a location teeming with abundant plant life, but there is nothing in the immediate vicinity that could provide me with starch or glucose in the form of fruits or tubers. If I could find termites somewhere, could I grind them up with a cellulose source in warm water and make a glucose slurry to stay alive? Would I have to boil it first after all the cellulose is catabolized? Would eating live trichonymphs harm me?
You just eat them plain and alive. Termites have been eaten by people all over the world since there were people. They are also a staple on survival shows like Man vs Wild.
I thought of that, but wouldn’t that be an inefficient use of them? If I crushed them up and released the enzyme from the trichonymphs, wouldn’t that give me substantially more glucose with only a minimally additional expenditure of effort?
In order for the enzymes to work, the cellulose needs to be ground up very finely. Termites have the jaws that can do that quite efficiently. Unless you happen to have access to a wood-pulp-making machine, I suspect the energy you spend trying to reproduce what they can do naturally will outweigh any benefit you might get over just eating the termites straight.
I see. So to stay happy on the island I need the chipper and Mary Ann. I knew there had to be a flaw in my plan somewhere.
I think your trichonymphs are symbiotic with the termite and may not survive the extraction process long enough to process your cellulose mixture into something you could sweeten your tea with. Also, you’d have crushed up termite parts decomposing in the soup while you waited. I suspect they’re better (for some small value of “better”) when eaten fresh.
Also, in the kind of climate where you generally find lots of termites, you don’t want to be drinking the water if you can avoid it – particularly water with lots of bug parts in it.
From what I’ve seen on the CBS Documentary Survivor, most people starving in the wilderness would rather continue starving (to the point that their hair starts to fall out…) than eat bugs. YMMV (Your Motivation May Vary)
Even if the enzymes were active and could break down cellulose into simple sugars, you’d be better off just eating the termites whole. Your theoretical slurry would only contain carbohydrates, whereas the termites would have handily converted the cellulose into various proteins and lipids, and would therefore be more nutritious.
Some humans (many more in the past) and many other primates use termites as a major food source. They’re fairly prolific too, so if you find one nest you’re likely to find a hundred. You’ll have plenty of food.