Effect of Wheat Flour Noodles with Bombyx mori Powder on Glycemic Response in Healthy Subjects

Insects as food and medicine: a sustainable solution for global health and environmental challenges

Insects are a significant source of food for millions of people worldwide. Since ancient times, insects in medicine have been contributing to the treatment of diseases in humans and animals. Compared to conventional animal farming, the production of insects for food and feed generates significantly less greenhouse gas emissions and uses considerably less land. Edible insects provide many ecosystem services, including pollination, environmental health monitoring, and the decomposition of organic waste materials. Some wild edible insects are pests of cash crops. Thus, harvesting and consuming edible insect pests as food and utilizing them for therapeutic purposes could be a significant progress in the biological control of insect pests. Our review discusses the contribution of edible insects to food and nutritional security. It highlights therapeutic uses of insects and recommends ways to ensure a sustainable insect diet. We stress that the design and implementation of guidelines for producing, harvesting, processing, and consuming edible insects must be prioritized to ensure safe and sustainable use.

Functional properties of edible insects: a systematic review

Consumption of edible insects has been widely suggested as an environmentally sustainable substitute for meat to reduce GHG emissions. However, the novel research field for edible insects rely on the content of bioactive ingredients and on the ability to induce a functional effect in humans. The goal of this manuscript was to review the available body of evidence on the properties of edible insects in modulating oxidative and inflammatory stress, platelet aggregation, lipid and glucose metabolism and weight control. A search for literature investigating the functional role of edible insects was carried out in the PUBMED database using specific keywords. A total of 55 studies, meeting inclusion criteria after screening, were divided on the basis of the experimental approach: in vitro studies, cellular models/ex vivo studies or in vivo studies. In the majority of the studies, insects demonstrated the ability to reduce oxidative stress, modulate antioxidant status, restore the impaired activity of antioxidant enzymes and reduce markers of oxidative damage. Edible insects displayed anti-inflammatory activity reducing cytokines and modulating specific transcription factors. Results from animal studies suggest that edible insects can modulate lipid and glucose metabolism. The limited number of studies focused on the assessment of anticoagulation activity of edible insects make it difficult to draw conclusions. More evidence from dietary intervention studies in humans is needed to support the promising evidence from in vitro and animal models about the functional role of edible insects consumption.

Antidiabetic Effect of Noodles Containing Fermented Lettuce Extracts

The aim of the current study was to examine the antidiabetic effect of noodle containing fermented lettuce extract (FLE) on diabetic mice as a pre-clinical study. The γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) content, antioxidant capacity, and total polyphenol content of the FLE noodles were analyzed and compared with those of standard noodles. In addition, oral glucose and sucrose tolerance, and fasting blood glucose tests were performed using a high-fat diet/streptozotocin-mediated diabetic mouse model. Serum metabolite profiling of mice feed standard or FLE noodles was performed using gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOF-MS) to understand the mechanism changes induced by the FLE noodles. The GABA content, total polyphenols, and antioxidant activity were high in FLE noodles compared with those in the standard noodles. In vivo experiments also showed that mice fed FLE noodles had lower blood glucose levels and insulin resistance than those fed standard noodles. Moreover, glycolysis, purine metabolism, and amino acid metabolism were altered by FLE as determined by GC-TOF-MS-based metabolomics. These results demonstrate that FLE noodles possess significant antidiabetic activity, suggesting the applicability of fermented lettuce extract as a potential food additive for diabetic food products.

RD43 rice flour: the effect on starch digestibility and quality of noodles, glycemic response, short-acting satiety hormones and appetite control in humans

The aim of this study was to develop wheat noodles substituted with 10-40% RD43 rice flour. Starch digestibility and physicochemical and sensory properties of RD43 rice noodles and its effect on glycemic response, gut hormones, and appetite sensation in humans were also determined. The results demonstrated that the substitution of 10-40% RD43 rice flour reduced starch digestibility, the hydrolysis index, and rapidly digestible starch (RDS), while increasing undigestible starch in noodles. Noodles prepared with 30% RD43 rice flour slightly increased water absorption (WA), and the swelling index (SI) without altering cooking loss. When compared with the control, 30% RD43 rice showed higher lightness (L*) and lower redness (a*), yellowness (b*) and hardness with similar overall acceptability. In human studies, ingestion of 30% RD43 rice noodles significantly lowered postprandial plasma glucose at 15-90 min. Interestingly, the postprandial concentration of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and peptide tyrosine-tyrosine (PYY) also significantly increased at 30 min after the intake of 30% RD43 rice noodles. A significantly lower desire to eat and higher fullness were detected after 30% RD43 rice noodle consumption until 120 min. This suggests that RD43 rice flour could be a potential ingredient in noodles for controlling the glycemic response, short-acting satiety hormones, and appetite sensation.

Effect of Thermal Processing on Physico-Chemical and Antioxidant Properties in Mulberry Silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) Powder

The mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) is a common edible insect in many countries. However, the impact of thermal processing, especially regarding Thai silkworm powder, is poorly known. We, therefore, determined the optimum time for treatment in hot water and subsequent drying temperatures in the production of silkworm powder. The silkworms exposed to 90 °C water for 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 min showed values of Total Phenolic Compounds (TPCs), 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging (DPPH) assay, 2,2'-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) assay, and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) assay that were significantly (p < 0.05) higher at the 5 min exposure time compared with the other times. The reduction of microorganisms based on log CFU/g counts was ≥3 log CFU/g (99%) at the 5 min treatment. To determine the optimum drying temperature, the silkworms exposed to 90 °C water for 5 min were subjected to a hot-air dryer at 80, 100, 120, and 140 °C. The TPC value was the highest (p < 0.05) at 80 °C. The silkworm powder possessed significantly (p < 0.05) higher DPPH, ABTS radical scavenging ability, and ferric ion reducing capability (FRAP assay) at 80 °C compared with other drying temperatures. This study indicates that shorter exposure times to hot water and a low drying temperature preserve the antioxidant activities. High antioxidant activities (in addition to its known protein and fat content) suggest that silkworms and silkworm powder can make a valuable contribution to human health.