Application of edible insects in enriching complementary foods made from common plant sources

Complementary foods in most sub-Saharan African countries are deficient in protein, essential minerals and vitamins resulting to sub-optimal growth and increased premature deaths among children below five years of age. This calls for action to develop home based enrichment of traditional complementary foods by exploiting the available and cheap animal protein like edible insects. A study was carried out in Kagera and Morogoro regions of Tanzania to develop a nutritious, affordable and acceptable complementary food from soybean, sweetpotatoes and longhorn grasshoppers-senene (Ruspolia baileyi). Soybeans were soaked, germinated for 36 h at 29°C, dried, mildly roasted and milled to obtain flour which was mixed with senene flour and sweetpotato flour at different ratios (CF01:25% senene: 35% soybeans: 40% sweetpotato, CF02: 20% senene: 40% soybeans: 40% sweetpotato and CF03: 15% senene: 35% soybeans: 50% sweet potato). Proximate analysis of the formulated foods was done using standard methods. Results showed that there were significant differences in crude protein, fat and ash contents among the samples (P<0.05). The highest crude protein (36.84%) and ash contents (3.93%) were found in soybean flour while senene flour had the highest fat levels (62.15%). Energyn analysis results revealed that senene flour had the highest energy levels (675.87kcal/100g) while sweet potato flour had the least energy. Among the three formulations of composite flours, CF01 had significantly higher protein, fat and energy levels (p<0.05) and above WHO recommendations for complementary foods. Sensory evaluation results showed that all flours were acceptable. CF01 had superior attributes in texture and overall acceptability having the highest mean score of 4.3 on a 5 points hedonic scale . These results suggest that senene is a protein rich ingredient useful in enriching plant based complementary foods. Exploitation of this cheap source of nutrients for complementary food formulation will be useful for the resource poor farmers.