| dc.description.abstract | Protein malnutrition is a challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. However, a cheap source of protein (Gonimbrasia zambesina caterpillars) is currently underutilized in the coastal region of Kenya. The study aimed to promote the utilization of G. zambesina caterpillar(s) by enriching wheat muffins with its flour. The specific objectives were: to evaluate the nutritional composition of wheat muffins enriched with G. zambesina caterpillar(s) flour; to evaluate the microbial properties of wheat muffins enriched with G. zambesina caterpillar(s) flour; to determine the shelf life of wheat muffins enriched with G. zambesina caterpillar(s) flour and to evaluate the sensory properties of wheat muffins enriched with G. zambesina caterpillar(s) flour. Substitution of wheat flour with G. zambesina caterpillar(s) flour was done at five levels with 0% as the control while 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% as the experimental variance. Nutritional composition, microbiological assessment and peroxide values (PVs) for predicting shelf life were determined by standardized analytical methods (AOAC, 2000). The sensory properties of the enriched wheat muffins were evaluated on a 5-point hedonic scale based on five parameters: colour, aroma, taste, texture and overall acceptability. PROC GLM was used to carry out an analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test the hypotheses of the study at 95% confidence level. Enriching wheat muffins with G. zambesina caterpillar(s) flour led to an increase in protein content by up to 73.6% for wheat muffins enriched at 20% substitution level. There was a significant difference (p<0.05) in the in vitro protein digestibility of wheat muffins enriched with G. zambesina caterpillar(s) flour. The
mineral and tocopherol contents increased with an increase in substitution level. The total viable count (TVC) was <30 colony forming units (CFU)/g, total coliform count (TCC) was <30 cfu/g, Salmonella spp and Staphylococcus aureus were not detected while yeast and moulds were <30 cfu/g over the 21 days evaluation period. The PVs of enriched wheat muffins increased with a corresponding increase in substitution level, storage time and temperature. The predicted shelf life of G. zambesina caterpillar(s) flour-enriched wheat muffins was significantly different at
(p<0.05). The sensory parameters evaluated except taste were significantly different (p<0.05). Sensory scores for colour, texture, aroma and overall acceptability decreased with corresponding increasing substitution levels. The results of this study implied that enriching wheat muffins with G. zambesina caterpillar(s) flour at 10% substitution level has the potential to improve the nutritional profile and health benefits of wheat muffins without compromising acceptability, microbiological quality and shelf life | en_US |
