<i>Tenebrio molitor</i> as a Clean Label Ingredient to Produce Nutritionally Enriched Food Emulsions

<i>Tenebrio molitor</i> flour, a sustainable source of protein and bioactive compounds, was used as a clean label ingredient in order to reformulate a commercial hummus sauce, replacing egg yolk and modified starch, improving its nutritional quality. For this purpose, the impact of diffe...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Maribel Aybar, Sara Simões, Joana Ride Sales, Joel Santos, Diogo Figueira, Anabela Raymundo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-01-01
Series:Insects
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/14/2/147
Description
Summary:<i>Tenebrio molitor</i> flour, a sustainable source of protein and bioactive compounds, was used as a clean label ingredient in order to reformulate a commercial hummus sauce, replacing egg yolk and modified starch, improving its nutritional quality. For this purpose, the impact of different concentrations of insect flour on the sauce was studied. Rheology properties, texture profile analysis, and the microstructure of the sauces were analyzed. Nutritional profile analysis was carried out, as well as bioactivity, namely the total phenolic content and the antioxidant capacity. Sensory analysis was conducted to determine the consumer’s acceptance. At low concentrations (up to 7.5% of <i>T. molitor</i> flour) the sauce structure remained practically unchanged. However, for higher additions of <i>T. molitor</i> (10% and 15%), a loss of firmness, adhesiveness and viscosity was observed. Structure parameters such as elastic modulus (G’) at 1 Hz of the sauces with 10% and 15% were significantly lower than the commercial sauce, indicating a loss of structure caused by <i>Tenebrio</i> flour incorporation. Although the formulation with 7.5% <i>T. molitor</i> flour was not the best rated in the sensory analysis, it showed a higher antioxidant capacity compared to the commercial standard. In addition, this formulation also presented the highest concentration in total phenolic compounds (16.25 mg GAE/g) and significantly increased the content of proteins (from 4.25% to 7.97%) and some minerals, compared to the standard.
ISSN:2075-4450