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Protein Comparison

The following information builds upon the model developed and published by the Good Food Institute You can download their entire guide to plant proteins here.

Key (legend) table for proteins
Table ranking proteins like soy, pea, cricket, and mealworms across different factors like PDCAAS, Flavor, Cost, etc.

Defatted Mealworm Powder

Protein Concentration: 64%

PDCAAS: 0.80 or better

Allergen Risk: similar to shellfish

Commercial Stage: very few large scale growers. Ÿnsect (France) moving from R&D to early production phase; Beta Hatch (US) ramping up production, but only for animal feed at this time.

Flavor: nutty/earthy

Functionality: foaming, gelling/binding, and emulsification similar to egg albumen

Cost: very limited data on wholesale prices; retail prices typically exceed $100/kg

Global Crop Volume: unknown; most likely under .1 MMT for food. Unclear how much is produced for animal feed.

Bar graph and table comparing amino acid profile of mealworm, whey, cricket, soy, and pea proteins

Mealworms score higher on the sum of essential amino acids (ΣEAA) with 45 grams per 100 grams, compared to Whey (34 grams), Crickets (39 grams), Soy (20 grams), and Pea (24 grams). 


Sources:

1. Planet Bugs, LLC lab testing

 

2. https://www.wageningenacademic.com/doi/abs/10.3920/JIFF2018.0048

 

3. Borremans A, Bußler S, Sagu ST, Rawel H, Schlüter OK, Leen VC. Effect of Blanching Plus Fermentation on Selected Functional Properties of Mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) Powders. Foods. 2020; 9(7):917. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9070917

 

4. Son Y-J, Choi SY, Hwang I-K, Nho CW, Kim SH. Could Defatted Mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) and Mealworm Oil Be Used as Food Ingredients? Foods. 2020; 9(1):40. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9010040

 

5. Zhao, Xue & Vázquez-Gutiérrez, José Luis & Johansson, Daniel & Landberg, Rikard & Langton, Maud. (2016). Yellow Mealworm Protein for Food Purposes - Extraction and Functional Properties. PloS one. 11. e0147791. 10.1371/journal.pone.0147791. 

 

6. https://www.agriculture.com/markets/newswire/frances-ynsect-targets-food-market-with-protifarm-buy

 

7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6245118/

 

8.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292978346_Yellow_Mealworm_Protein_for_Food_Purposes_-_Extraction_and_Functional_Properties