Nutritional Quality and Safety of Complementary Foods Developed from Blends of Staple Grains and Honey Bee Larvae (Apis mellifera)

Abstract

Complementary foods must be adequate to satisfy the nutritional needs of the growing child together with breastfeeding. This study was aimed at evaluating the nutritional composition, microbial safety, and sensory quality of extruded complementary foods developed from blends of staple grains and insect bee larva (Apis mellifera). Teff, maize, soybean, and bee larva samples were milled to flour and blended before extrusion as follows: ComF01 (57% maize, 29% teff, and 14% soybean) and ComF02 (58% maize, 29% teff, and 13% bee larvae) using NutriSurvey software (version, 2007). Nutrient composition, microbial, and sensory analyses of developed flour blends were conducted using standard methods. The proximate composition of moisture, fat, fiber, carbohydrate, and energy was significantly different between the developed and commercial wean-mix foods. ComF02 recorded the highest fat content (14.3 g/100 g), energy (427.18 kcal/100 g), and vitamins A (706 μg/100 g), B3 (8.2 mg/100 g), and B9 (86.7 mg/100 g) while ComF01 had the highest protein content (12.56 g/100 g). Iron (40.94 mg/100 g) and calcium (68.20 mg/100 g) were the minerals with the highest content in ComF02. Both ComF01 and ComF02 met the recommended dietary allowance of nutrients for infants aged 6-12 months. Overall, the present study showed that bee larvae can be used to develop complementary foods that are nutritionally adequate, microbiologically safe, and sensory acceptable meeting the dietary allowance of infants at an acceptable level compared to conventional cereal-based foods.

Priority Micronutrient Density of Foods for Complementary Feeding of Young Children (6–23 Months) in South and Southeast Asia

“…This study focuses specifically on infants and young children living in South and Southeast Asia, however the same approach could be used to analyze the priority micronutrient density of foods for complementary feeding in other regions of the world presenting similar micronutrient gaps in complementary feeding diets, such as Eastern and Southern Africa (55). Future research could build on this analysis, for instance, by expanding the regional food composition database through the inclusion of soy foods and of nutrient-dense wild or indigenous fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, pulses (54), and insects (56), the safety and nutritional adequacy of which is currently being studied for potential application in complementary foods (57). In addition, findings from this study could be compared and complemented with affordability and environmental impact metrics, to assess these variables based on priority micronutrient density by expanding on existing approaches (13,43,58).…”

Evaluation of nutritional quality of complementary foods formulated from blends of Nigerian yellow maize (Zea mays), soybean (Glycine max) and crayfish (Procambarus clarkii)

“…Moisture, ash, crude lipid and crude fibre contents of a CF were determined as described by the FAO, 26 whereas the crude protein content was determined by the Kjeldahl method as described by Suksong 24 . The total carbohydrate content of a CF was determined by the difference method, and the energy content was calculated according to the method of Mekuria et al 27 . All of the calculations were performed on three independent determinations.…”

Cardioprotective Effects of Insect Apis Melifera Based Complementary Foods Using an In-Vivo White Albino (BALB/c) Mice

“…The basal diets were developed, according to the recommendations of (Adeoti et al, 2018). The experimental diet of the two complementary diets were formulated from locally available foodstuffs using Nutrisurvey software (version, 2007) and processed by extrusion technology as reported by ((Shewangzaw et al, 2021). Finally, each group of experimental animals was assigned to each experimental diet.…”

“…A high level of SFA is related to atherosclerosis and heart failure, however, some of them, such as stearic acid, which is found in the bee larvae, help to lower LDL cholesterol levels (Mensink, 2005). Therefore, the inclusion of bee larvae with others food ingredients can be used to develop complementary foods (CFs) that are nutritionally adequate and healthy (Shewangzaw et al, 2021). The raised levels of TC, LDL-C, and TG, as well as HDL-C, have traditionally been associated with atherosclerosis.…”