402: Shelf Life of Crackers Containing SC-CO2 Defatted Mealworm

Introduction

The idea of using mealworms in the food industry is gaining interest due to the ever-increasing demand for meat, which leads to high prices and depletion of natural resources. Replacing meat as a high-quality protein source with other valuable and sustainable proteins such as those from insects might alleviate the aforementioned problems, promoting adequate levels of food security. In this context, we produced crackers using SC-CO2 defatted mealworms aiming to diversify the number of similar food products on the market. To achieve this objective, we studied the shelf life of the crackers to inquire the possible effect of this novel ingredient on the physicochemical properties during storage time.

Methods

The crackers were made following a traditional recipe using (in order of quantity) the following ingredients: wheat meal with 0 (control), 5, 10, and 15% substitution with SC-CO2 defatted mealworm, water, palm oil, sugar, salt, and sodium bicarbonate. The crackers were analyzed for shelf-life at 0, 15, and 30 days, performing the following analysis: moisture, water activity, Three Point Bend Rig (HDP/3PB) for texture, obtaining measurements of hardness and fracturability, color (CIELAB space), and TBARs for measuring lipid oxidation.

Results

Crackers made with defatted mealworms had less moisture content than control and this behavior was maintained during storage time. Regarding the texture, significantly (p < 0.05) lower hardness was observed for crackers with 10 and 15% substitution from day 15. A similar result was obtained for fracturability. Sensory analysis would be applicable in order to relate these outcomes to the perception of a group of panelists. On the other hand, the mealworm addition clearly influenced the color of the cracker, significantly (p < 0.05) decreasing the lightness and yellowness and increasing the redness. Finally, lipid oxidation was higher as the percentage of mealworm flour increased, although our values (maximum of 0.406 mg MDA/kg cracker) were supposedly below the human detection threshold.

Significance

Using SC-CO2 defatted mealworms in cracker production could produce differentiated novel bakery products with modified physicochemical parameters.

Authors: Rubén Agregán, Barbara Biduski, Eduarda M. Cabral, Noemí Echegaray, Carlos Álvarez, Mirian Pateiro, Jose Angel Perez-Alvarez, Juana Fernández-Lopez, Roberto Bermúdez, Ruben Dominguez-Valencia, José Manuel Lorenzo