In this study, edible insect flours from Gonimbrasia belina (Mashonzha), Hermetia illucens (black soldier fly larvae) and Macrotermes subhylanus (Madzhulu) were prepared and assessed in terms of proximal, physicochemical, techno-functional and antioxidant properties. The crude protein of the edible insect flours varied between 34.90–52.74%. The crude fat of the insect flours differed significantly (p < 0.05), with H. illucens (27.93%) having the highest crude fat. G. belina was lighter (L*) and yellower (+b*) compared to H. illucens and M. subhylanus, and there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in the redness (+a*) of the edible insect flours. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in foam capacity and foam stability of all three edible insect flours. Moreover, the antioxidant activity against the DPPH radical was low for H. illucens (3.63%), with M. subhylanus (55.37%) exhibiting the highest DPPH radical. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to the techno-functional properties and antioxidant indices of the edible insect flours. PC1 accounted for 51.39% of the total variability, while component 2 accounted for 24.71%. In terms of PC1, the FS, OBC and FC were responsible for the major differences in the edible insect flours. The findings revealed that edible insect flours are a good source of antioxidants and can be used as an alternative protein source and a potential novel food additive due to their techno-functional qualities.

This study assesses the enrichment of biscuits with Gonimbrasia belina (Emperor moth/Mopane worm) and Hermetia illucens (black soldier fly) larvae flours, investigating their nutritional, antioxidant properties and consumer acceptance. The protein content of biscuits with wheat flour portion substituted with edible insect flours varied, ranging from 14.09 to 17.80% for H. illucens and 15.04 to 19.91% for G. belina . No significant difference ( ) in fat content was observed for H. illucens biscuits substituted at 5, 10 and 15%. However, all substituted biscuits exhibited higher moisture content than the control (2.66%). Biscuits substituted at 15% and 20% of G. belina showed no significant differences ( ) in lightness, and there was also no significant difference ( ) in redness between biscuits containing 5% G. belina and the control sample. The TPC content in H. illucens biscuits ranged from 43.58 to 251.14 mg GAE/100 g, while for G. belina it ranged from 16.63 to 77.43 mg GAE/100 g. Additionally, substitution at 15 and 20% of H. illucens flour increased the thickness of the biscuits. The PCA results revealed that the first two principal components (PC1 and PC2) accounted for a substantial portion of the variance in the data, with PC1 explaining 45.93% and PC2 explaining 23.04% of the total variance. Overall acceptability showed no significant differences ( ) between the control and samples containing 5% G. belina . However, biscuits with more than 10% insect flour were less accepted by the panellists for both G. belina and H. illucens , indicating a wheat flour substitution threshold of 10%. This study highlights the potential of incorporating insect flours into biscuit formulations, suggesting avenues for enhancing nutritional content while maintaining consumer acceptability.