Insect powder production method

Abstract

This insect powder production method comprises a step A for pressing an insect raw material, and a step B for drying the compressed material obtained in the step A.

Description

How insect powder is produced

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for producing insect powder.

[0002] In recent years, eating insects has been gaining attention worldwide.

[0003] The environmental impact and costs of raising (producing) insects are lower than those of livestock, another protein source. Furthermore, insects are high in protein and have excellent nutritional value, so they have been attracting attention in recent years, in response to growing global environmental awareness.

[0004] On the other hand, because some people are reluctant to eat insects due to their appearance, they are often made into insect powder and then processed into food. Such insect powder is generally produced by washing insects, dehydrating them, drying them, extracting oil, and then pulverizing them.

[0005] Furthermore, when insects containing a large amount of lipid, particularly those containing more than 20% lipid, are processed into powder, a step of breaking down the agglomerated powder is required.

[0006] From the viewpoint of cost reduction, there is a strong demand for further simplification of the above-mentioned manufacturing process.

[0007] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a simpler method for producing insect powder.

[0008] As a result of intensive research aimed at solving the above problems, the inventors have discovered that by first carrying out a pressing step after properly washing the insects, it is possible to omit the steps of oil extraction and crushing, thereby reducing costs and shortening the working time. Based on this finding, the inventors have conducted further research and have completed the present invention.

[0009] That is, the present invention provides the following methods for producing insect powder: Item 1. A method for producing insect powder, comprising step A of compressing an insect raw material, and step B of drying the compressed material obtained in step A. Item 2. The method according to item 1, further comprising step C of pulverizing the dried material obtained in step B. Item 3. The method according to item 1 or 2, wherein the insect raw material is crickets.

[0010] The method for producing insect powder according to the present invention as described above can produce insect powder through a simplified process compared to conventional production methods.

[0011] Schematic diagram of the method for producing insect powder of the present invention. Evaluation results of lipid content in Examples and Comparative Examples. Comparison data of production costs and working times in Examples and Comparative Examples.

[0012] In this specification, the term "containing" is a concept that encompasses all of "comprise," "consist essentially of," and "consist only of." Furthermore, in this specification, when a numerical range is expressed as "A to B," it means A or more and B or less.

[0013] The method for producing insect powder of the present invention comprises, in order, step A of compressing the insect raw material and step B of drying the compressed product obtained in step A.

[0014] The insects used as raw materials are not particularly limited and can be any known insects used for food, including those from the orders Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Hemiptera, Orthoptera, and Odonata.

[0015] However, from the viewpoint of superior nutritional value, it is preferable to use insects of the order Orthoptera, and it is particularly preferable to use insects of the family Gryllidae of the order Orthoptera.

[0016] It is preferable to wash the culled insects prior to step A. The specific washing method is not particularly limited, and a wide variety of known methods can be used. Specific examples include methods such as boiling.

[0017] (Step A) In step A, the insect raw material is pressed. A wide variety of known pressing systems can be used for the pressing operation, and there are no particular limitations. Specific examples include any pressing system such as single-screw or twin-screw pressing (Angel-type twin-screw pressing), filter pressing (Choquenet-type filter pressing), and platen pressing.

[0018] The conditions for the compression operation are appropriately determined depending on the type of insect used, and are not particularly limited. For example, the pressure conditions for compression are preferably 30 MPa or more, more preferably 35 MPa or more. The pressure conditions are preferably 100 MPa or less, more preferably 45 MPa or less. The compression time is also preferably, for example, 1 minute or more, more preferably 2 minutes or more. The compression time is preferably 30 minutes or less, more preferably 10 minutes or less, and even more preferably 5 minutes or less.

[0019] By performing compression, the oil content in the insect raw material is preferably reduced to less than 20% by mass of the oil content in the insect raw material when compression is not performed (before compression), and more preferably to 19% by mass or less.

[0020] In conventional insect powder manufacturing methods, to obtain low-fat insect powder such as low-fat cricket powder, it is common to add an oil expression step after the dehydration step of the insect raw material, but the method of the present invention adds a pressing step, which combines the dehydration and oil expression steps and makes it possible to omit steps. Also, with high-fat insect raw materials, a crushing step was necessary because the powder tends to clump, but in the manufacturing method of the present invention, the pressing step removes the lipid components, making it possible to omit the dehydration and crushing steps.

[0021] (Step B) In step B, the compressed product obtained in step A is dried.

[0022] The drying method is not particularly limited, and any known drying method applicable to food products can be widely used. Drying the compressed product by roasting is also a preferred embodiment.

[0023] Drying conditions can be appropriately determined depending on the type and amount of the insect raw material used, etc. By drying, the moisture content is preferably reduced to 20% by mass or less, more preferably 15% by mass or less.

[0024] (Step C) It is also preferable to further provide a step C after the above steps A and B. In the step C, the dried product obtained in the above step B is pulverized.

[0025] The pulverization method is not particularly limited and may be any of a wide variety of known methods used in the food industry, such as dry pulverization, mortar pulverization, jet mill pulverization, high-speed rotary pulverization, and airflow pulverization.

[0026] The size of the powder obtained by pulverization can be appropriately set depending on the type of insect raw material or the processing use of the resulting insect powder.

[0027] As shown in Figure 1, in conventional insect powder manufacturing methods, for example, to obtain low-fat insect powder, it is necessary to extract lipids from the dried raw material (Figure 1A), but according to the manufacturing method of the present invention, it is possible to simultaneously carry out the dehydration and oil extraction steps by, for example, pressing the raw material after washing. Furthermore, when high-fat insect raw materials are used, conventional methods tend to cause aggregation during manufacturing, necessitating a crushing step (Figure 1B), but the manufacturing method of the present invention includes an initial pressing step, which allows dehydration and extraction of lipids, eliminating the need for a crushing step.

[0028] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these examples, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be embodied in various forms without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0029] Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail based on examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[0030] (Example 1) After washing the raw cricket material, it was pressed at 35 MPa for 2 minutes. The obtained pressed material was placed in a roaster, and roasted under a uniform heat setting until the material temperature reached 110°C. The obtained roasted material was then pulverized.

[0031] (Comparative Example 1) The same cricket raw material as in Example 1 was washed and centrifuged, then roasted under the same heating power setting until the temperature reached 110°C. The resulting roasted product was crushed and then disintegrated.

[0032] Lipid content evaluation test The mass (mass%) of lipids in each cricket powder of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 was measured by the Soxhlet extraction method. The results are shown in Figure 2.

[0033] 3 shows the manufacturing costs and working times required for the manufacture of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1. The results are shown as a ratio, with the manufacturing costs and working times in Comparative Example 1 taken as 1.

Claims

1. A method for producing insect powder, comprising: a step A of squeezing insect raw material; and a step B of drying the squeezing product obtained in step A.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step C of pulverizing the dried product obtained in the step B.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the insect raw material is crickets.

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