Potencial nutricional de Tenebrio molitor: efeito do método de secagem na composição bromatológica e na recuperação de proteínas.

Abstract

Edible insects have been studied as an innovative alternative for human food due to their nutritional profile, global distribution, and the need to implement more sustainable food production systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the proximate composition, the impact of drying methods on protein recovery from Tenebrio molitor flours, and the potential use of these proteins in human food. Experimental flours were obtained by freeze-drying and freeze-drying followed by oven drying, with commercial insect flour used as a control. All samples underwent proximate composition analysis and ultrasound-assisted alkaline extraction. The results showed that the drying methods did not significantly affect the protein content of the flours, which ranged from 47.2% to 50.5%. However, in the protein fraction obtained after alkaline extraction, the flour subjected exclusively to freeze-drying showed a higher protein content (66.04%) compared with the flour subjected to combined drying (65.63%), while the commercial flour presented 69.76%. No significant differences were observed among treatments for the other proximate composition parameters evaluated. It was concluded that T. molitor flours presented a high protein content, consistent with values reported in the literature, and that freeze-drying favored protein recovery after alkaline extraction, highlighting the potential of T. molitor flour as a protein ingredient for use in human food.