Tenebrio molitor - tasty, healthy and sustainable

Purpose and goal

The aim of the project was to develop a healthy and climate friendly product based on mealworm that the Swedish food industry is interested to manufacture and which is easy to prepare and attractive to eat. Product development, continuous evaluation and sensory tests resulted in the product Tenebriosticks. Tenebriosticks meet all the goals of the project; healthy, climate friendly, based on mealworms and Swedish ingredients, easy to prepare and attractive to eat. The interest from the Swedish food industry to manufacture the product is also verified.

Expected results and effects

The result of the project was expected to be a tasty, healthy and climate friendly sausage based on mealworms and experiences generated in the project´s product development and sensory evaluation regarding desirable attributes and how they can be achieved in food production. Tenebriosticks meet the required criteria, except that they lack the sausage skin. Today´s selection of sausage skins did not meet our demands.

Planned approach and implementation

The project was implemented as planned, with two meetings with the project team and reference group, product development at Kristianstad University, as well as sensory evaluation at SP Food and Bioscience. The imported raw material was replaced with home-grown mealworm because of sensory quality. More time than planned has been put on communication about the project as it attracted much attention. This has been beneficial to the project´s ambition to position mealworms as a serious protein option.