Food science researchers at LSU are concocting recipes with an unusual ingredient: crickets. Cricket protein, actually. The brown powder can pack a protein punch that proponents say is environmentally sustainable. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, about 2 billion people worldwide eat insects, mostly in Southern and Central Africa and Southeast Asia.
Beetles, caterpillars, ants, grasshoppers and even dragonflies are consumed as sources of protein. However, many in the U.S. remain skeptical.
Figuring out how to make insect protein more palatable to U.S. taste buds was the task of LSU undergraduate and graduate students last semester in the Food Product Development class at the LSU School of Nutrition & Food Sciences.
LSU Ph.D. student Ryan Ardoin from Lafayette created and administered a survey to about 700 people to find out which type of food containing insect protein they would most likely eat. Baked goods such as chips, muffins and snacks won. Therefore, the students dove into concocting a tortilla chip with cricket protein flour in the school’s test kitchen. They solicited 75 taste testers, who chose the winning recipe – an Italian-inspired chip with sun dried tomatoes. While your typical chip has about 2 grams of protein per serving, the cricket chip has about 7 to 8 grams of protein per serving. The food science students also whipped up some hummus with cricket protein for an extra protein kick.
While the U.S. may not be as ready as other countries such as Guatemala where people snack on flavored ants, Finland where loaves of bread are baked with whole crickets or Europe where insects are more commonly raised and marketed for food use, the aversion here may change over time.
“I think perception will change in the future. Just like how whey protein was not accepted many years ago. Also, we can convert insects into different forms such as protein concentrates and hydrolysates,” said Witoon Prinyawiwatkul, the Horace J. Davis Endowed Professor in the LSU School of Nutrition & Food Sciences.
The Ph.D. students who worked on this product from conception to marketing include Cristhiam Guardian Curran from Nicaragua, Katheryn Parraga Estrada from Ecuador, Karuna Kharel from Nepal, Yupeng Gao from China and Ryan Ardoin from Lafayette, La.