The global population’s increasing demand for sustainable and nutritious food sources has led to the exploration of alternative approaches in livestock production. Edible insects have emerged as a promising solution due to their nutritional composition, including high protein content, balanced fats, minerals, vitamins, and bioactive peptides. Biofermentation offers a viable method to enhance the nutritional value of insect feed. This study aimed to investigate the effects of feeding biofermented feeds derived from less valuable raw materials on the yield and nutritional composition of Zophobas morio larvae. The focus was on assessing fat quality, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and bioactive compounds and monitoring the larvae’s weight and length increases. Three feed types were tested: wheat bran (control), fermented wheat bran, and a mixture of fermented corn and flaxseed in a five-week period. The findings demonstrated a noteworthy (p < 0.05) elevation in polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as gamma-linolenic acid, alpha-linolenic acid, and eicosapentaenoic acid in Zophobas morio larvae fed with biofermented corn and flaxseed pomace, both pre- and postculinary treatment, as compared to the control group. The study also showed increased chelation of Cu²⁺ (p < 0.05) and Fe²⁺ (p < 0.05) between native and roasted insects in the samples without in vitro digestion, as well as increased Cyclooxygenase-1 activity (p < 0.05), indicating improved bioavailability. Additionally, culinary processing led to a reduction in polyphenol content (p < 0.05), antioxidant activity (p > 0.05) except DPPH, and peptide concentration (p < 0.05) in the samples without in vitro digestion.

Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a rapid, non-destructive analytical tool widely used in the food and agricultural sectors. In this study, two NIR instruments were compared for classifying the addition of microplastics (MPs) to high-moisture-content samples such as vegetables and fruit. Polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and a mix of polymers (PE + PP) MP were added to mixtures of spinach and banana and scanned using benchtop (Bruker Tango) and portable (MicroNIR) instruments. Both principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) were used to analyze and interpret the spectra of the samples. Quantitative models were developed to predict the addition of Mix, PP, or PE to spinach and banana samples using PLS regression. The R² _CV and the SECV obtained were 0.88 and 0.44 for the benchtop samples, and 0.54 and 0.67 for the portable instruments, respectively. Two wavenumber regions were also evaluated: 11,520–7500 cm⁻¹ (short to medium wavelengths), and 7500–4200 cm⁻¹ (long wavelengths). The R² _CV and the SECV obtained were 0.88 and 0.46, 0.86 and 0.49, respectively, for the prediction of addition in samples analyzed on the benchtop instrument using short and long wavenumbers, respectively. This study provides new insights into the comparison of two instruments for detecting the addition of MPs in high-moisture samples. The results of this study will ensure that NIR can be utilized not only to measure the quality of these samples but also to monitor MPs.

The growing market for insect-based food and feed ingredients raises concerns about authenticity, labelling transparency, and regulatory compliance, highlighting the need for rapid screening methods capable of distinguishing selected insect-derived materials. In this preliminary feasibility study, Raman spectroscopy combined with partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was evaluated for the fingerprinting and differentiation of PBS-extractable components from nine insect species. Extracts of 96 dried insect samples prepared in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, pH 9.4) were analysed, yielding 358 insect spectra after quality control; PBS spectra were included as a technical control class. The overall correct classification rate (CCR) reached 61.6%, indicating moderate classification performance rather than validated species-level authentication. Apis mellifera drones achieved 100.0% CCR, while Hermetia illucens and Tenebrio molitor both reached 80.0%. Complete misclassification of Shelfordella tartara as Blaptica dubia indicated strong spectral similarity between closely related cockroach species. VIP score analysis identified the 1700–1800 cm⁻¹ region, corresponding primarily to lipid ester carbonyl vibrations, as the most discriminatory spectral range. The results suggest that Raman spectroscopy can provide taxon-related biochemical fingerprints of PBS-extractable insect components, while also highlighting the need for expanded reference libraries, improved sampling strategies, and validation in complex food matrices to further develop its potential as a screening approach.