Department of Agricultural Chemistry and Food Science, Faculty of Science, C/Francisco Tomás y Valiente, 7. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain.
Food Funct. 2021 Jul 21;12(14):6309-6322. doi: 10.1039/d0fo03291c. Epub 2021 Jun 4.
This work is aimed to evaluate the nutritional composition, and the techno-functional and in vitro physiological properties of flours made using six different insect species and the sensorial feasibility of including them in bakery products. The insect flours exhibited high protein and fat contents as their main components, highlighting the presence of chitin in ant samples. The techno-functional properties showed high oil holding, swelling, and emulsifying capacities in all the analysed insect flours, whereas their bulk density, hydration properties, and foaming capacity showed average values and no gelation capacity. Moreover, these edible insect flours exhibited effective hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia properties, which together with their high antioxidant capacity are associated with beneficial in vitro physiological effects. The beetle and caterpillar flours stand out in these properties, and thus were selected to make a cupcake. The sensory evaluation confirmed that the edible beetle powder can be successfully included in baked goods to provide excellent sensory properties and very high acceptance. Thus, these insect flours may be of great interest to the food industry as a healthy source of protein, exerting a positive impact on functional and sensory food properties, and with a potential role in the prevention of diseases associated with hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia.
本工作旨在评估六种不同昆虫种类制成的面粉的营养成分、工艺功能和体外生理特性，以及它们在烘焙产品中应用的感官可行性。这些昆虫粉的主要成分是高蛋白和高脂肪，突出了蚂蚁样本中几丁质的存在。所有分析的昆虫粉都具有较高的油保持力、膨胀力和乳化能力，而其堆积密度、水化特性和泡沫能力则具有平均水平，且没有凝胶能力。此外，这些可食用昆虫粉具有有效的高血糖和高血脂特性，以及高抗氧化能力，这些特性与有益的体外生理效应有关。甲虫和毛毛虫粉在这些特性中表现突出，因此被选来制作蛋糕。感官评估证实，可食用的甲虫粉可以成功地包含在烘焙食品中，提供极好的感官特性和极高的接受度。因此，这些昆虫粉可能作为一种健康的蛋白质来源，对功能和感官食品特性产生积极影响，并可能在预防与高血糖和高血脂相关的疾病方面发挥作用，从而引起食品工业的极大兴趣。
