Nutritional composition and sensory Properties of wheat muffins enriched with Gonimbrasia zambesina, walker caterpillar flour

Abstract

Sub-Saharan Africa still bears the greatest forms of malnutrition. Attention is shifting to the use of edible insects in forms which are acceptable to people irrespective of their social status and level of civilization in efforts to alleviate protein malnutrition. Gonimbrasia zambesina (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) caterpillars emerge seasonally in the coastal part of Kenya and despite their rich nutritional profile, their consumption is low. This study was thus undertaken to evaluate the effect of substituting wheat flour with G. zambesina caterpillar flour at 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% substitution levels on the nutritional composition and sensory properties of wheat muffins. Substituting wheat flour with G. zambesina caterpillar flour resulted in significantly high protein, fat and fibre contents of enriched wheat muffins. There was also an increasing trend in the ash, minerals and tocopherol content. Invitro protein digestibility significantly decreased from 10 to 20% substitution levels. There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the carbohydrate contents of enriched wheat muffins. The sensory scores for colour, texture, aroma and the overall acceptability of wheat muffins decreased with increasing substitution levels. At 10% substitution level, wheat muffins had significantly higher nutritional content than control wheat muffins (0%) and were comparable to muffins enriched with 5% G. zambesina caterpillar flour in terms of overall acceptability. Thus, enriching wheat muffins with G. zambesina caterpillar flour at 10% substitution level has the potential to contribute to improved protein nutrition since they have a higher protein content than the control wheat muffin and are 88.8% digestible (in vitro).

Comparison of Inclusion of Skimmed Milk and Edible Insects on the Nutritional, Sensory and Microbial Qualities of Enriched High Energy Rice Biscuits

“…The insect enriched biscuits however exceeded the USAID [19] minimum fat requirement by approximately 25%. A similar observation was reported for muffins and cookies substituted with caterpillar, meal worm and grasshopper powders [20,21,22]. After protein, fat is another principal component of insects [23].…”

Quality and functional attributes of muffins with incorporation of fruit, vegetable, and grain substitutes: A review

“…The stability of muffins varies depending on the ingredients and the surrounding environment because they are sensitive to moisture, temperature, and microbes Contd……... from the outside (Ouma, 2023). Customers are drawn to this practice because adding fruit and vegetables to baked goods enhance their look, texture, nutritional value, sensory qualities, and shelf life.…”

Insects as source of phenolic and antioxidant entomochemicals in the food industry

“…The species Gonimbrasia zambesina Walker has been considered as a serious candidate in the preparation of enriched muffins because the addition of larvae significantly increases the protein content, among other nutritional parameters, up to 20%. However, the highest concentration that can be used is only of 10%, after which the product has poor consumer acceptance and shelf life (56,57).…”