Abstract
There is a pressing need to extend the knowledge on the properties of insect protein fractions to boost their use in the food industry. In this study several techno-functional properties of a black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) protein concentrate (BSFPC) obtained by solubilization and precipitation at pH 4.0–4.3 were investigated and compared with whey protein isolate (WPI), a conventional dairy protein used to stabilize food emulsions. The extraction method applied resulted in a BSFPC with a protein content of 62.44% (Kp factor 5.36) that exhibited comparable or higher values of emulsifying activity and foamability than WPI for the same concentrations, hence, showing the potential for emulsion and foam stabilization. As for the emulsifying properties, the BSFPC (1% and 2%) showed the capacity to stabilize sunflower and lemon oil-in-water emulsions (20%, 30%, and 40% oil fraction) produced by dynamic membranes of tunable pore size (DMTS). It was proved that BSFPC stabilizes sunflower oil-in-water emulsions similarly to WPI, but with a slightly wider droplet size distribution. As for time stability of the sunflower oil emulsions at 25 °C, it was seen that droplet size distribution was maintained for 1% WPI and 2% BSFPC, while for 1% BSFPC there was a slight increase. For lemon oil emulsions, BSFPC showed better emulsifying performance than WPI, which required to be prepared with a pH 7 buffer for lemon oil fractions of 40%, to balance the decrease in the pH caused by the lemon oil water soluble components. The stability of the emulsions was improved when maintained under refrigeration (4 °C) for both BSFPC and WPI. The results of this work point out the feasibility of using BSFPC to stabilize O/W emulsions using a low energy system.
Highlights
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations reports that the global population is likely to grow up to nine billion by 2050 [1,2] inducing a dramatic increase of food demand
As for the techno-functional properties of the BSFPC compared to whey protein isolate (WPI), it has been proven that BSFPC has higher Foaming Capacity (FC) and Foam Stability (FS) than WPI at low protein concentration (0.1%)
It was found that BSFPC has higher values of Emulsifying Activity (EA) for low protein concentration (0.1%) than WPI and comparable values to WPI for 2% concentration
Summary
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations reports that the global population is likely to grow up to nine billion by 2050 [1,2] inducing a dramatic increase of food demand. Among the alternative protein sources, edible insects have drawn great attention in recent decades and FAO has claimed that edible insects are a good source of protein for dietary purposes [6]. Even though entomophagy, eating insects as foods, is being practiced by more than two billion people worldwide, most western developed countries have serious objections to consuming edible insects as a result of distaste and disgust about their nature and appearance [6,9,10,11,12,13]. In January 2021, the EFSA Panel on nutrition has adopted a scientific opinion on the safety of yellow mealworm as a novel food pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2015/2283
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