House Cricket (Acheta domesticus) and Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) as Non-Conventional Sources of Nutrients and Bioactive Ingredients—Evaluation of Physicochemical, Nutraceutical, and Sensory Properties of Supplemented Muffins
Open accessAbstract
Background: Non-conventional protein sources, such as edible insects and microalgae, are gaining popularity due to their high nutritional value and environmental benefits. The presented study aimed to examine the effect of a 4% addition of house cricket and spirulina powders on selected properties of muffins. The effects of non-conventional additives on color, textural properties, nutritional value, amino acid composition, and mineral content were determined. Methods: Antioxidant activity was evaluated against DPPH· and ABTS·+, and total phenolic content (TPC) and in vitro predicted glycemic index (GI) were examined. Sensory properties were evaluated using a nine-point hedonic scale and a consumer study. Results: The results showed that the additions of house cricket and spirulina significantly changed the color parameters of the muffins (ΔE 8.28 and 39.17, respectively) and affected their hardness, cohesiveness, gumminess, and chewiness. Nutritional value was improved, mainly due to an increase in protein content (up to 6% more). Overall, the amino acid profile of the muffins was improved, with a higher presence of all essential amino acids. The enriched muffins had a higher content of selected minerals, including iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc, and exhibited higher TPC and antioxidant activity along with a lower in vitro predicted glycemic index. In the consumer evaluation, the spirulina muffins scored highest in texture (8.07 ± 1.04), while cricket muffins received the lowest ratings for color (6.60 ± 1.63), aroma (6.36 ± 2.04), and overall impression (7.03 ± 1.38). Taste did not differ significantly among all muffins. Conclusions: The results suggest that muffins can be made using edible insects and microalgae to enhance their nutritional value while maintaining an acceptable taste.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Adding Spirulina at 4% to muffins raised protein and ash content while lowering fat content, with no notable changes in carbohydrate and moisture levels.
“It also raised protein and ash content while lowering fat content, with no notable changes in carbohydrate and moisture levels.”
From Valorization of Microalgae as Multifunctional Protein Sources in Plant-Based Systems: Structural, Functional, and Processing Challenges (2026) · cites this paper as [82]
Methods §2.3 specifies a 4% spirulina substitution. Results §3.3 reports higher protein and ash in spirulina muffins, similar carbohydrate levels to controls, and no significant difference in water content. It does not establish that spirulina lowered muffin fat content; the fat increase it reports concerns cricket-enriched muffins. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAdding Spirulina at 4% to muffins containing wheat flour, milk, eggs, rapeseed oil, sugar, and baking powder significantly increased levels of essential amino acids (mg/g protein): isoleucine 4.03 ± 0.05; leucine 7.93 ± 0.1; lysine 4.16 ± 0.11; methionine 4.59 ± 0.08; phenylalanine 4.98 ± 0.09; threonine 3.59 ± 0.1; and valine 4.93 ± 0.14.
“For example, when added at 4% to muffins containing wheat flour, milk, eggs, rapeseed oil, sugar, and baking powder, it significantly increased the levels of essential amino acids (mg/g protein): isoleucine (4.03 ± 0.05); leucine (7.93 ± 0.1); lysine (4.16 ± 0.11); methionine (4.59 ± 0.08); phenylalanine (4.98 ± 0.09); threonine (3.59 ± 0.1); and valine (4.93 ± 0.14) [82].”
From Valorization of Microalgae as Multifunctional Protein Sources in Plant-Based Systems: Structural, Functional, and Processing Challenges (2026) · cites this paper as [82]
Split into 2 atoms — 1 confirmed, 1 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIn muffins with 4% Spirulina, hardness, gumminess, and chewiness were reduced.
“Conversely, in muffins with 4% Spirulina, hardness, gumminess, and chewiness were reduced [82].”
From Valorization of Microalgae as Multifunctional Protein Sources in Plant-Based Systems: Structural, Functional, and Processing Challenges (2026) · cites this paper as [82]
According to the protein quality score, lysine was the limiting amino acid in the final muffin product with 4% Spirulina.
“According to the protein quality score (%), lysine was the limiting amino acid in the final product [82].”
From Valorization of Microalgae as Multifunctional Protein Sources in Plant-Based Systems: Structural, Functional, and Processing Challenges (2026) · cites this paper as [82]
In crackers containing wheat flour, water, yeast, salt, baking powder, and Spirulina at 1.5%, levels of isoleucine, leucine, lysine, tryptophan, and valine were observed, with lysine showing the lowest value (0.1 mg/100 g).
“Among the essential amino acids in crackers containing wheat flour, water, yeast, salt, baking powder, and Spirulina at 1.5%, levels of isoleucine, leucine, lysine, tryptophan, and valine were observed, with lysine showing the lowest value (0.1 mg/100 g).”
From Valorization of Microalgae as Multifunctional Protein Sources in Plant-Based Systems: Structural, Functional, and Processing Challenges (2026) · cites this paper as [82]
Section 3.4 reports amino acid results for spirulina-supplemented muffins and identifies lysine as their limiting amino acid, not as the lowest measured concentration in crackers. A search for the stated cracker ingredients, 1.5% spirulina, the listed amino acids, and 0.1 mg/100 g found no passage reporting those results; the mention of spirulina crackers in Section 3.6 concerns antioxidant properties. (LLM, conf=0.76)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
The citation lists haven’t been fetched yet
References 106 · Cited by 6
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- [44]Smith D.M. Protein Separation and Characterization Procedures Food Analysis Heldman D.R. Springer Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany 2010 261 281 9781441914781
- [92]Mlcek J. Borkovcova M. Bednarova M. Biologically Active Substances of Edible Insects and Their Use in Agriculture, Veterinary and Human Medicine—A Review J. Cent. Eur. Agric. 2014 15 225 237 10.5513/JCEA01/15.4.1533 · DOI
- Authors
- Zielińska, E., Podgórska-Kryszczuk, I., Ramotowski, D., & Pankiewicz, U.
- Affiliations
- University of Life Sciences in Lublin (PL)
- Corresponding author
- Podgórska-Kryszczuk, Izabela
- Venue
- Nutrients
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2025-09-11
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 18
- Pages
- 2931
- ISSN
- 2072-6643 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC12472805
- OpenAlex
- W4414124198
- Cited by
- 6
- References
- 106
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 1
- FWCI
- 4.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nutrients (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- IDUB University Development Strategy for 2024–2026 in the discipline of Nutrition and Food Technology (SUBB.RNN.24.019)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Insect Science › Insect Utilization and Effects
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food and Agricultural Sciences
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Seed and Plant Biochemistry
- Keywords
- Acheta domesticus, Spirulina, Spirulina platensis, edible insects, microalgae, muffins, nutraceuticals, antioxidant activity, total phenolic content, glycemic index, amino acid composition, mineral content, sensory properties, consumer acceptance, texture, color
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Amino Acids, Animals, Antioxidants, Gryllidae, Humans, Male, Minerals, Nutritive Value, Taste, Dietary Supplements, Glycemic Index, Spirulina
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
