Obregón, Sonora.- A study by the Food and Development Research Center (CIAD) assessed the potential of antioxidant and antihypertensive activity of flour worm extracts (Tenebrio molitor) and chapulín (Sphenarium purpurascens) fermented with specific strains of Lactoccocus lactis, a cheese bacteria that, for the aforementioned study, was artisanal cheese. Obtaining bioactive insect peptides by fermentation with lactic acid-acid bacteria has been little explored, so the engineer Adilene Mendoza Salazar, as part of her academic training in the master’s degree in science at CIAD, under the direction of Dr. Aarón González Córdova, professor of the Food Technology Coordination of Animal Origin, was given the task of assessing the potential antioxidant capacity and inhibition of the angiotensin-converting enzyme of water-soluble extracts obtained from fermented flours of grapes of the flour and chapulin.
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As part of the study, flours inoculated with bacteria were fermented for 24, 48 or 72 hours at 30oC. After several experiments, the protein content and antioxidant capacity of the products were determined. The results showed the potential use of specific strains of Lactococcus lactis for insect fermentation and the generation of bioactive peptides with potential antioxidant and antihypertensive activity. The engineer Mendoza Salazar explained that the search for alternatives for the use of insect food is a growing trend around the world, as different health benefits have been discovered in its consumption. In the case of the flour worm and the chapulin, he indicated that the cultivation of these animals is relatively easy and their transformation into fermented flours is an activity that could boost the economic development of different regions of Mexico.
Benefits of flour
It also stressed the importance of the scientific community helping to develop functional and nutraceutical foods that meet market demands and correspond to public health challenges, while endeating the sustainable use of natural resources and the social development of communities. For his part, González Córdova pointed out that the generation of this new scientific knowledge contributes to the advancement of knowledge regarding the properties of insects as functional foods. In addition, he emphasized the importance of abound in a line of research on the sustainable use of insects as a basis for food production. You may be interested: How to prevent brain aging? What are antioxidantsdieta keto for, who shouldn’t use it for weight loss?
