Wheat Bread Enriched with House Cricket Powder (Acheta domesticus L.) as an Alternative Protein Source

Magdalena Gantner; Anna Sadowska; Anna Piotrowska; Klaudia Kulik; Barbara Sionek; Eliza Kostyra

doi:10.3390/molecules29030711

Wheat Bread Enriched with House Cricket Powder (Acheta domesticus L.) as an Alternative Protein Source

Molecules. 2024 Feb 3;29(3):711. doi: 10.3390/molecules29030711.

Authors

Magdalena Gantner¹, Anna Sadowska¹, Anna Piotrowska¹, Klaudia Kulik¹, Barbara Sionek², Eliza Kostyra¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Functional and Organic Food, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska Str. 159c, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland.
² Department of Food Gastronomy and Food Hygiene, Institute of Human Nutrition Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska Str. 159c, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland.

Abstract

The house cricket (Acheta domesticus L.) is one of four edible insect species introduced to the EU market as a novel food and alternative protein source. Innovative products, such as cricket flour, are increasingly appearing on supermarket shelves and can offer an alternative to traditional cereals, while providing the body with many valuable nutrients of comparable quality to those found in meat and fish. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of using cricket powder as a substitute for wheat flour in the production of bread. The physicochemical properties of cricket powder were evaluated in comparison to wheat flour. As a result of technological studies, bread compositions with 5%, 10% and 15% replacements of wheat flour by cricket powder were designed and their quality characteristics (physicochemical, sensory and microbiological) were evaluated. Cricket powder was characterised by a higher protein (63% vs. 13.5%) and fat (16.3% vs. 1.16%) content and a lower carbohydrate (9.8% vs. 66%) and fibre (7.8% vs. 9.5%) content as compared to wheat flour. The tested preparations had a similar pH (6.9 and 6.8, respectively, for cricket powder and flour) and fat absorption capacity (0.14 vs. 0.27 g oil/g powder, respectively, for cricket powder and flour) but different water holding capacities and completely different colour parameters. All breads had good microbiological quality after baking and during 7 days of storage. In instrumental tests, the 10 and 15% replacements of wheat flour by cricket powder affected the darker colour of the breads and caused a significant increase in the hardness of the breads. The research has shown that the optimal level of replacement, which does not significantly affect the physiochemical and sensory characteristics, is 5% cricket powder in the bread recipe. Considering the results obtained and the fact that insects provide a sufficient supply of energy and protein in the human diet, are a source of fibre, vitamins and micronutrients, and have a high content of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, the suitability of cricket powder for protein enrichment of bakery products is confirmed.

Keywords: amino acids; bread; cricket powder; fatty acids; functional food; sensory evaluation; wheat flour.

MeSH terms

Animals
Bread
Cricket Sport*
Flour
Gryllidae*
Humans
Powders
Triticum / chemistry

Substances

Powders

Grants and funding

This research was prepared as part of the Own Science Development Fund at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland. The research for this publication was carried out with the use of the equipment purchased as part of the “Food and Nutrition Centre—modernisation of the WULS campus to create a Food and Nutrition Research and Development Centre (CŻiŻ)” co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund under the Regional Operational Programme of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship for 2014–2020 (Project No. RPMA.01.01.00-14-8276/17).