Search

Insects are rich in essential nutrients; their use in food fortification is emerging as a means of producing nutritious and acceptable food products for human consumption. The study was undertaken to develop crackers enriched with ground insects; evaluate effect of insect inclusion and processing temperature on acceptability and nutritional quality. Insects (crickets, soldier and winged termites) were dried and ground for production of crackers. Crackers were evaluated by fifty untrained panelists to screen acceptability by insect species against the control. Subsequently, the most preferred insect species (winged termites) was used to substitute wheat flour at 5, 10 and 15% to determine acceptability and nutrient content by insect proportion. Cracker were finally formulated with the most preferred insect proportion (5%); using ground winged termites oven dried at 90, 120 and 150°C to determine acceptability by drying temperatures and nutrient quality was determined using standard methods. Winged termite enriched crackers were most preferred, comparing favorably with the control. Increased substitution level significantly (p<0.05) decreased acceptability of crackers color. Nutrient content per 100 g increased significantly (p<0.05) with insect proportion, while nutrient quality reduced significantly (p<0.05) with increased temperatures; protein digestibility; 26.23 to 20.56% Fe; 42.26 to 20.79% and Zn solubility 27.63 to 18.32% at 90 and 150°C respectively. Crackers enriched with 5% ground winged termite oven dried at 90oC had good nutrient and sensory qualities. The study envisaged acceptable use of termites in the bakery industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed at nutritional characterization of commonly consumed insects in Langosub region, northern Uganda. Proximate composition, mineral and fatty acid profile of Syntermes soldiers, Macrotermes bellicosus and Brachytrupes spp were determined using standard analytical methods. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was performed and means were separated using Least Significant Difference (LSD) test at 5% (P=0.05). Nutrient contents of Syntermes soldiers, Macrotermes bellicosus and Brachytrupes spp were: 64.72, 40.72, 65.35% protein; 4.99, 44.84, 11.76% fat; 23.03, 8.38, 16.87% dietary fibre and; 4.19, 5.69, 4.88% ash, respectively. Energy content was 502.86, 696.10, 536.42 kcal/100 g while protein digestibility was 31.39, 44.39, 50.22%, respectively. Essential minerals were abundant with 897.15, 676.96, 877.26 mg/100 g potassium; 32.50, 42.71, 33.60 mg/100 g iron and; 17.64, 16.90, 23.02 mg/100 g zinc, respectively. Levels of essential fatty acids were appreciable with: 16.74, 8.92, and 22.14% Linoleic acid and 2.88, 0.63, and 2.55% Linolenic acid, respectively. Oleic acid was the most abundant at 37.64, 47.73 and 38.27%. While the ratio of total polyunsaturated fatty acid to total saturated fatty acids were; 1.32, 0.24, and 0.71 respectively. Consumption of these insects could contribute to the dietary intakes of the essential nutrients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]