Cricket and yellow mealworm powders promote higher bioaccessible fractions of mineral elements in functional bread

The application of cricket and yellow mealworm powders to improve the mineral bioaccessibility of bread was investigated. Breads enriched with 10% cricket (CPB-10%) and 10% yellow mealworm (YMPB-10%) powders showed a 1.5-, 2.95-, and 1.22-fold increase in proteins, total lipids, and fibers, respectively, compared to the reference white wheat bread (WFB-100%). Compared to reference bread, a significant increase in the essential amino acids valine (9.72%) and tyrosine (1.86%) contents was observed in the CPB-10% and YMPB-10%. The MUFAs account for 35.22% in CPB-10%, 30.77% in YMPB-10%, and 32.34% in WFB-100%. In vitro digestion experiments showed a higher bioaccessibility of Na, K, Ca, Mg, P, Fe, Zn, Mn, and Li from insect bread than from white bread. Only Cu was more bioaccessible from FB-100% than from insect bread. The results shed light on the possible contribution of insect bread consumption to mitigate deficiencies in several important macro- and microelements.