Physicochemical, thermal and in vitro digestion characteristics of cricket‐ (Acheta domesticus) substituted corn tortillas

Abstract

SummaryThis research aimed to evaluate how the addition of cricket powder (Acheta domesticus) affected corn tortillas' chemical, nutritional and digestibility characteristics. Tortillas with a 5%, 7.5% and 10% A. domesticus powder (AD) substitution to nixtamalised corn flour (NCF) (w/w) were formulated, produced and characterised. The addition of AD caused significant visual differences in samples. At 10% substitution, the lipid content doubled. AD addition impacted carbohydrate composition by increasing the fibre portion and reducing the starch content. The in vitro starch digestibility was affected by the substitution of AD, increasing the resistant starch fraction, which was strongly correlated (R = 0.99) with the substitution percentage of AD. The presence of amylose–lipid complexes (resistant starch type V) was observed in differential scanning calorimetry in all AD‐substituted samples. The addition of AD decreased the predicted glycaemic index by 15% and increased protein digestibility up to 21%. Results provide new insights for the formulation of cricket‐based products and possible low glycaemic index foods.