EFFECT OF PROCESSING ON THE NUTRITIONAL VALUE AND ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY OF CRICKET FLOUR

Introduction: Culture is one of the factors that modify the choice of food. Insect consumption is traditional in some parts of the world such as Mexico or China, but it is not accepted in Europe. Objectives: The aim of this paper is to know the nutritional quality of cricket flour obtained by different procedures. Methods: We worked with five samples: fresh cricket (F), dehydrated cricket at 50ºC (D50) and 100ºC (D100), toasted cricket at 180ºC (T180) and lyophilized cricket (L). The chemical composition and protein profiles were determined in undigested samples. Their antioxidant capacity was also evaluated after "in vitro" digestion. Results: The different employed treatments reduce the ash, protein, fiber and sodium contents in a significant way respecting the fresh sample. The D50 treatment is the best one to maintain ash and sodium values in relation to the control sample, whereas for proteins the best one is the D100 treatment. PAGE electrophoresis experiments show a band at 200 kDa corresponding to myosin in all processed samples that is absent in case of F sample. The antioxidant capacity determined by FRAP and ABTS methods is higher in the insoluble fraction (IF) than in the soluble fraction (SF), while the opposite occurs with ORAC method. The highest antioxidant capacity is for D100 according to FRAP, or for T180 according to ABTS and ORAC methods. The sample with the lowest antioxidant capacity by FRAP and ABTS methods corresponds to D50 and by the ORAC method to the L sample. Conclusions: 1. D100 treatment produces the greatest losses of minerals and sodium and the L treatment the greatest losses of protein. The treatment also affects the protein profile of the samples. 2. The antioxidant capacity determined by ABTS and ORAC methods is increased in T180, while it is the D100 that produces the greatest increase by FRAP.