Nutritional Quality of Four Novel Porridge Products Blended with Edible Cricket (Scapsipedus icipe) Meal for Food

Publication Type

Journal Article

Journal Name

Foods

Name of Author

• Nelly C. Maiyo, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi
• Fathiya M. Khamis, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi
• Michael W. Okoth, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences
• George O. Abong, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences
• Sevgan Subramanian, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi
• James P. Egonyu, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi
• Cheseto Xavier, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi
• Sunday Ekesi, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi
• Evanson R. Omuse, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi
• Dorothy Nakimbugwe, Makerere University
• Geoffrey Ssepuuya, Makerere University
• Changeh J. Ghemoh, Centre for African Bio-Entrepreneurship (CABE)
• Chrysantus M. Tanga, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology Nairobi

Publication Date

4-1-2022

Abstract

Currently, no data exist on the utilization of the newly described cricket species (Scapsipedus icipe) meal as additive in food products, though they have high protein (57%) with 88% total digestibility as well as a variety of essential amino acids. This article presents the first report on the effects of processing techniques and the inclusion of cricket meal (CM) on the nutrient and antinutrient properties of four porridge products compared to a popularly consumed commercial porridge flour (CPF). Porridge enriched with CM had significantly higher protein (2-folds), crude fat (3.4–4-folds), and energy (1.1–1.2-folds) levels than the CPF. Fermented cereal porridge fortified with CM had all three types of omega-3 fatty acids compared to the others. The vitamin content across the different porridge products varied considerably. Germinated cereal porridge with CM had significantly higher iron content (19.5 mg/100 g). Zinc levels ranged from 3.1–3.7 mg/100 g across the various treatments. Total flavonoid content varied significantly in the different porridge products. The phytic acid degradation in germinated and fermented porridge products with CM was 67% and 33%, respectively. Thus, the fortification of porridge products with cricket and indigenous vegetable grain powder could be considered an appropriate preventive approach against malnutrition and to reduce incidences in many low-and middle-income countries.

Keywords

complementary porridge, edible cricket meal, grain amaranth, malnutrition and food security, nutrient quality, underutilized food resources

Recommended Citation

Maiyo, N., Khamis, F., Okoth, M., Abong, G., Subramanian, S., Egonyu, J., Xavier, C., Ekesi, S., Omuse, E., Nakimbugwe, D., Ssepuuya, G., Ghemoh, C., & Tanga, C. (2022). Nutritional Quality of Four Novel Porridge Products Blended with Edible Cricket (Scapsipedus icipe) Meal for Food. Foods, 11 (7) https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11071047

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.