Fortification of Nutrient Lacking Sourdough Bread with Nutrient Dense Cricket Powder

Abstract

Consumers are constantly searching for new food items to supplement into their diet. When searching for these items, one of the main nutrients that consumers look for is protein. Cricket protein is an environmentally friendly and high-quality option when it comes to protein supplementation. The popularity of fortified foods is rising and this product looks to take advantage of that trend. The purpose of this research was to test the effects of fortification of sourdough bread with cricket powder. This experiment tested both the physical and chemical changes associated with cricket powder fortification to determine the potential for this to be a viable product in the market. Fortification percentages of 5 and 10% were used and multiple tests were run. Tests were conducted on fortified flour samples to see the effect of the cricket powder on flour characteristics, and also on the baked bread itself. The results from the tests showed differences in many of the physical characteristics of the bread such as percentage rise, firmness and color. The largest differences were found in the percentage rise and color tests. Tests were also run on the properties of flour mixed with cricket powder. These tests were emulsion stability and solubility percentage. These tests did not elicit as big of a difference as the bread tests, but there were common trends in each depending on the level of fortification with cricket powder.