IIARD International Institute of Academic Research and Development

RESEARCH JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE AND QUALITY CONTROL (RJFSQC )

E-ISSN 2504-6145
P-ISSN 2695-2459
VOL. 9 NO. 3 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56201/rjfsqc.v9.no3.2023.pg35.51

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Nutritional and Structural Characteristics of Insect-Based and Mixed-Grain Puffed Cakes

Mary Ozioma Okpala, Sandra Hill, Jo Gould, John Beech, Anne-clothilade Guyot,Val Street and Sarah Gaun

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Abstract

The consumption of healthy snacks is on the increase leading to exploration of various ingredients in the production. Edible insect can be explored and included into puffed snack ingredient as alternative source of protein for sustainable food system. In this study, single grain (100% rice and 100% corn) and mixed-grain (corn, bambara groundnut, cassava grits) with higher proportion of corn (50-60%) were used as ingredients in the production of puffed grain cakes using rice cake popping machine at 220 0C, 5 seconds. Insect powder (cricket powder) at 10% level was included in the mixed-grain formulation with 50% corn. Parameters such as nutritional composition, pasting properties, textural attributes and microstructure were used to assess the quality of the puffed grain cakes. Results shows that addition of 25% bambara groundnut to the puffed cakes increased the protein content to 8.50% while inclusion of 10% insect powder yielded highest protein content of 12.44%. The deformation and expansion of corn starch during puffing process dominates the products’ pasting and structural attributes. The 100% rice grain had highest peak viscosity of 212 cP while 100% corn, mixed-grain and insect-based puffed cakes had low peak viscosity ranging from 25.08 to 89.83 cP. Low hardness (0.61 N to 29.05 N) was obtained in all puffed grain cakes with low peak viscosity except 100% rice. It was discovered that the lower the peak viscosity, the lower the hardness and this improved crispiness. The microstructure reveals presence of large air bubbles in all puffed cakes except 100% rice. This study has created an opportunity for the use of insect and non-rice grain in the production of nutritious puffed grain cake that will serve the nutritional requirements of developing countries and special diet consumers.

keywords:

Crispy Expansion; Ingredients; Insect-Based; Puffing; Mixed-Grain

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References:

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Anals, Food Science
and Technology, 19 (2): 285-291

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