Nutritional value, heavy metal contamination and health risk assessment of Phalangium opilio Linnaeus, 1758 as a potential edible arachnid

Edible insects and arachnids have increasingly been recognised as alternative food sources. The aim of the study was to evaluate the harvestman species Phalangium opilio (P. opilio) Linnaeus, 1758 as a new edible species. In this research, some chemical properties, fatty acid and mineral composition of the P. opilio were investigated. Additionally, the heavy metal contamination and its health risk assessment were evaluated. The fat and protein contents of the samples were 1.18% and 14.07%, respectively. The P. opilio had unsaturated fatty acids such as myristoleic, palmitoleic, linoleic and oleic acids. The P. opilio was analyzed for K, Mg, Na, Ca, Fe, Zn, Al, Mn, Se contents, estimated daily intake and contributions to the recommended daily mineral intake were calculated. The heavy metals detected in the P. opilio were Cu, Ni, Cd, Pb, As, Cr, Co and Ag. The Cd had the highest target hazard quotient value (2.16). The hazard index value of the P. opilio was 3.32 and it had a potential health risk level. Consequently, although P. opilio exhibited favourable nutritional properties, the THQ value for Cd and the cumulative HI value exceeded the recommended safety threshold, indicating a potential non-carcinogenic health risk associated with its consumption. Accordingly, considering the detected heavy metal levels and associated health risk indices, the consumption of wild-collected P. opilio should be approached with caution. © Hüseyin Ender Gürmeriç et al., 2026. Published with license by Koninklijke Brill BV. This work is published by Koninklijke Brill BV. Koninklijke Brill bv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Schöningh, Brill Fink, Brill mentis, Brill Wageningen Academic, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Böhlau and V&R unipress. Koninklijke Brill BV reserves the right to protect the publication against unauthorized use and to authorize dissemination by means of offprints, legitimate photocopies, microform editions, reprints, translations, and secondary information sources, such as abstracting and indexing services including databases. Requests for commercial re-use, use of parts of the publication, and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill BV.