Lingke Wang, Jiayou Li, Yixin Chen, Yang Zhang, Ruyuan Zhang
The surge in global population has driven a dramatic increase in protein demand, and insects have emerged as a promising sustainable high-quality protein resource due to their advantages of high reproductive rates, low production costs, high protein content, and balanced nutritional profiles. This review systematically compares the traditional and innovative extraction methods for insect proteins and peptides, and explores their functional characteristics. Moreover, this review summarizes the multiple applications of insect proteins and peptides in food, feed, and pharmaceutical industry, and provides a forward-looking perspective on the challenges that impede their broader implementation, and concrete recommendations are proposed to facilitate the industrial advancement of insect-derived bioproducts and foster their integration into mainstream consumer markets.