Interest in the consumption of insects (entomophagy) as an alternative environmentally sustainable source of protein in the diet of humans has recently witnessed a surge. Knowledge of the nutrient composition and, in particular, the bioavailability of minerals from insects is currently sparse. This study evaluated the availability of Fe, Ca, Cu, Mg, Mn, and Zn from four commonly eaten insects and compared these to sirloin beef. Soluble iron from the samples was measured by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Iron bioavailability was determined using an in vitro simulated peptic-pancreatic digestion, followed by measurement of ferritin (a surrogate marker for iron absorption) in Caco-2 cells. Cricket and sirloin beef had comparably higher levels of Fe, Ca, and Mn than grasshopper, meal, and buffalo worms. However, iron solubility was significantly higher from the insect samples than from beef. The complementation of whole-wheat flour with insect or beef protein resulted in overall decreases in mineral content and iron solubility in the composite mixtures. Collectively, the data show that grasshopper, cricket, and mealworms contain significantly higher chemically available Ca, Cu, Mg, Mn, and Zn than sirloin. However, buffalo worms and sirloin exhibited higher iron bioavailability comparable to that of FeSO. Commonly consumed insect species could be excellent sources of bioavailable iron and could provide the platform for an alternative strategy for increased mineral intake in the diets of humans.

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The poor thermal and acid stabilities of anthocyanins greatly limit their industrial applications as functional food ingredients. This work investigated the ability of the Maillard reaction products (MRPs) of whey protein isolates and glucose to enhance the thermal stability of anthocyanins over the pH range of 2.0-7.0. Anthocyanin dispersions were subjected to up to 120 min of thermal treatment at 80 °C. The improvement in the color stability and antioxidant capacity of the anthocyanin dispersions indicated that MRP remarkably inhibited anthocyanin degradation. Fluorescence spectroscopy results suggested that anthocyanins and MRPs form complexes through hydrophobic interactions. These complexes effectively attenuated anthocyanin degradation under heat treatment at pH 6.0. The particle sizes of MRPs alone or in complex with anthocyanins remained unchanged after heating. The novel protein delivery system proposed in this study expands the applications of anthocyanins as acid- and heat-stable functional food ingredients.

The gelling and structural properties of microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) and pectin modified fish gelatin were compared to investigate their performances on altering fish gelatin properties. Our results showed that within a certain concentration, both MTGase and pectin had positive effects on the gelation point, melting point, gel strength, textural, and swelling properties of fish gelatin. Particularly, low pectin content (0.5%, w/v) could give fish gelatin gels the highest values of gel strength, melting temperature, and hardness. Meantime, flow behavior results showed that both MTGase and pectin could increase fish gelatin viscosity without changing its fluid characteristic, but the latter gave fish gelatin higher viscosity. Both MTGase and pectin could increase the lightness of fish gelatin gels but decreases its transparency. More importantly, fluorescence and UV absorbance spectra, particle size distribution, and confocal microscopy results indicated that MTGase and pectin could change the structure of fish gelatin with the formation of large aggregates. Compared with MTGae modified fish gelatin, pectin could endow fish gelatin had similar gel strength, thermal and textural properties to pig skin gelatin.