Understanding the drying kinetic and hygroscopic behaviour of larvae of yellow mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) and the effects on their quality

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Abstract

The use of insects for preparing high nutritional value foods is emerging. The dehydration kinetic of yellow mealworms larvae and its hygroscopic behaviour were described also analysing the changes in quality attributes. Blanching was performed before air drying at 50, 60 and 70 °C while sorption isotherms were studied after air drying and freeze-drying. The Page model described the dehydration kinetic at 50, 60 and 70 °C with a coefficient of determination of 0.993. Moisture diffusion coefficients between 4.85×10 ^-11 and 1.62×10 ^-10 m ²/s were estimated and their temperature dependence was described by the Arrhenius equation, estimating an Ea of 52.1 kJ/mol. The Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer model well fitted experimental data, showing isotherms of type II and estimating a monolayer value of 0.05 g H ₂O/g dry matter. Blanching significantly modified the adsorption isotherms, increased the moisture of fresh larvae without affecting their proximate composition. Rehydration after lyophilisation produced higher colour degradation probably due to the increase of enzymatic activity.

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An Exploration on Greenhouse Gas and Ammonia Production by Insect Species Suitable for Animal or Human Consumption

Dennis G. A. B. Oonincx, Joost van Itterbeeck, Marcel J. W. Heetkamp … (2010)

Background Greenhouse gas (GHG) production, as a cause of climate change, is considered as one of the biggest problems society is currently facing. The livestock sector is one of the large contributors of anthropogenic GHG emissions. Also, large amounts of ammonia (NH3), leading to soil nitrification and acidification, are produced by livestock. Therefore other sources of animal protein, like edible insects, are currently being considered. Methodology/Principal Findings An experiment was conducted to quantify production of carbon dioxide (CO2) and average daily gain (ADG) as a measure of feed conversion efficiency, and to quantify the production of the greenhouse gases methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) as well as NH3 by five insect species of which the first three are considered edible: Tenebrio molitor, Acheta domesticus, Locusta migratoria, Pachnoda marginata, and Blaptica dubia. Large differences were found among the species regarding their production of CO2 and GHGs. The insects in this study had a higher relative growth rate and emitted comparable or lower amounts of GHG than described in literature for pigs and much lower amounts of GHG than cattle. The same was true for CO2 production per kg of metabolic weight and per kg of mass gain. Furthermore, also the production of NH3 by insects was lower than for conventional livestock. Conclusions/Significance This study therefore indicates that insects could serve as a more environmentally friendly alternative for the production of animal protein with respect to GHG and NH3 emissions. The results of this study can be used as basic information to compare the production of insects with conventional livestock by means of a life cycle analysis.