Impact of Mulberry Silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) Pupae Powder on Physicochemical Properties and Consumer Preference of Ready-to-Eat Smoked Fish Paste

Abstract

There is a worldwide interest towards new natural alternative food sources that possess nutritional and physiological benefits for human health, and because the mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori) pupae contains nutritional compounds, so it is a promising novel nutritional supplement in preparing functional food products. Mulberry silkworm pupae (SWP) powder was used as smoked tilapia fish meat replaces in processed ready-to-eat fish paste. Physicochemical properties and sensory evaluation were performed to investigate the effect of substitution on the quality and consumer preference of the produced fish paste. Ready-to-eat fish paste was prepared by replacing smoked tilapia fish meat with SWP at different levels (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25%). The results of SWP powder showed that SWP contained high levels of protein (58.38%), total carbohydrate (17.96%), and crude ether extract (18.26%) and also could be considered a rich source for phosphorous, magnesium, calcium, zinc, potassium, and iron. Ethanolic extract of SWP had a phenolic content of 37.64 mg GAE/100 g with DPPH inhibition activity (27.45%) and total flavonoid content (22.39 mg RE/100 g). The prepared fish paste products with SWP showed significantly increased crude ether extract content, caloric value, and pH, whereas the crude protein content was decreased when increasing SWP concentration. The SWP addition changed the colour and enhanced the cohesiveness and chewiness of all products. Statistically, there were significant differences noted in all the sensory attributes between the control and those containing 10, up to 25% replacement. On the other hand, the panelist accepted the all SWP smoked fish paste products.