{rfName}
Th

Indexed in

License and use

Icono OpenAccess

Citations

37

Altmetrics

Analysis of institutional authors

Igual, MAuthor

Share

Publications
>
Article

The Impact of Insect Flour on Sourdough Fermentation-Fatty Acids, Amino-Acids, Minerals and Volatile Profile

Publicated to:Insects. 13 (7): 576- - 2022-07-01 13(7), DOI: 10.3390/insects13070576

Authors: Vasilica, Beldean (Tatar) Bianca; Chis, Maria Simona; Alexa, Ersilia; Pop, Carmen; Paucean, Adriana; Man, Simona; Igual, Marta; Haydee, Kovacs Melinda; Dalma, Kovacs Emoke; Stanila, Sorin; Socaci, Sonia; Farcas, Anca; Berbecea, Adina; Popescu, Iuliana; Muste, Sevastita

Affiliations

Banat Univ Agr Sci & Vet Med King Michael I Roman, Fac Agr, Dept Soil Sci - Author
Banat Univ Agr Sci & Vet Med King Michael I Roman, Fac Agrofood Technol, Dept Food Control - Author
Res Inst Analyt Instrumentat, NCDO INOE 2000, 67 Donath St - Author
Univ Agr Sci & Vet Med Cluj Napoca, Dept Tech Sci & Soil Sci, Calea Manastur St 3-5 - Author
Univ Agr Sci & Vet Med Cluj Napoca, Fac Food Sci & Technol, Dept Food Engn, 3-5 Manastur St - Author
Univ Agr Sci & Vet Med Cluj Napoca, Fac Food Sci & Technol, Dept Food Sci, 3-5 Manastur St - Author
Univ Politecn Valencia, Food Technol Dept, Food Invest & Innovat Grp, Camino Vera S-N - Author
See more

Abstract

Simple Summary Acheta domesticus (house cricket) flour is one of the most promising and sustainable sources of nutrients. It is rich in protein, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids, and vitamins and it has a low impact on the consumption of natural environmental resources. On the other side, fermentation with lactic acid bacteria represents a technological tool that can improve further the nutritional quality of flours. Therefore, the aim of the present research was to study the adaptability of the Lactobacillus plantarum strain on insect flour fermentation. Fatty acids, amino acids, minerals, and aroma volatile compounds were analyzed during 48 h of fermentation. Fermentation improved the nutritional quantity of the bioactive compounds, mainly after 24 h of fermentation, where they reached higher extended values. Overall, our findings indicate that insect flour is able to support the growth and development of the Lactobacillus plantarum strain, leading to an enriched insect flour sourdough that could be further used in the manufacturing of new products. Acheta domesticus (L.1758) has been recently accepted by the European Union as a novel food, being the third insect that has been approved for human consumption. Nowadays, researchers' attention is focused on exploiting new protein sustainable sources, and, therefore, insect flour has gained more and more interest. Organic acids, fatty acids, amino acids, aroma volatile compounds, and minerals were analyzed through HPLC-RID (High-performance liquid chromatography), GC-MS (Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry), LC-MS (Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry), ITEX/GC-MS and AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry), respectively. Fermentation of the insect flour with Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014 strain (Lp) leads to an increase in organic acids such as lactic, acetic, and oxalic, whilst citric acid decreases its value. SFA (saturated fatty acids) and MUFA (monosaturated fatty acids) groups were positively influenced by Lp fermentation; meanwhile, PUFA (polysaturated fatty acids) decreased during fermentation. A positive trend was observed for amino acids, aroma volatile content, and minerals enhancement during insect sourdough fermentation, mainly at 24 h of fermentation. Acheta domesticus (A. domesticus) sourdough fermentation represents a new tool that needs to be further exploited aiming to improve the nutritional qualities of the final products.

Keywords

Acheta domesticusAcheta-domesticusBioactive compoundsBreadDerivativesFermentationGluten-free muffinsInsect flourLactic-acidLactobacillus plantarumPlantarum atcc 8014

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Insects due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, it was in position 15/100, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Entomology.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 2.99. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 4.15 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 8.54 (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-20, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 15
  • Scopus: 22
  • OpenCitations: 15

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-20:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 50.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 50 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Oman.