cff-version: 1.2.0
abstract: "<p>Edible insects have been proposed as a novel and sustainable source of protein and other essential nutrients for human consumption but nutrient absorption efficiency is still uncertain. We investigated zinc absorption from house crickets (Acheta domesticus) in a single-center and single-blinded cross-over study with children aged 24-36 months old in Kenya from September-November 2021. For this, children were randomized to consume two different experimental meals labeled with stable isotopes of zinc (Zn) at two different days, separated by a wash-out period of one month. Primary endpoints were the differences in amount of absorbed zinc (AZ) from maize-based meals enriched with intrinsically 67Zn-labeled house crickets (2.61 mg Zn, n= 28) in comparison with meals enriched with 68Zn (low-enriched: 0.90 mg Zn, n= 29) ; high-enriched: 3.24 mg Zn, n= 28) or with intrinsically 67Zn-labeled low-chitin cricket flour (2.51 mg Zn, n= 25 ), whereas the secondary endpoints were the differences in fractional zinc absorption. We found that AZ from meals with whole crickets (geometric mean: 0.36 mg; 95%CI: 0.30, 0.43) was 2.6 times higher than from low-enriched maize meals (0.14 mg; 0.11, 0.16; P&lt;0.001), while it was not different from low-chitin cricket flour meals. Absorbed zinc from both cricket meals was higher than that from high-enriched meals. No severe adverse side events were reported. We conclude that edible house crickets are a good source of well-absorbable zinc, and their increased consumption could contribute to the alleviation of zinc deficiency. This trial was registered at the Pan African Clinical Trials Registry as PACTR202104533831364.&nbsp;</p>"
authors:
  - family-names: Hilaj
    given-names: Nikolin
    orcid: "https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6310-5289"
  - family-names: Boit
    given-names: Tele
    orcid: "https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9667-405X"
  - family-names: Andang&#39;o
    given-names: Pauline
    orcid: "https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5920-1873"
  - family-names: Zeder
    given-names: Christophe
    orcid: "https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6675-3708"
  - family-names: Mwangi
    given-names: Martin N.
    orcid: "https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8358-4448"
  - family-names: Hummel
    given-names: Marijke
    orcid: "https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9853-6353"
  - family-names: Necochea Velazco
    given-names: Ornella
    orcid: "https://orcid.org/0009-0007-6647-032X"
  - family-names: van Loon
    given-names: J.J.A. (Joop)
    orcid: "https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4260-0501"
  - family-names: Dicke
    given-names: Marcel
    orcid: "https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8565-8896"
  - family-names: Zimmermann
    given-names: Michael B.
title: "Data underlying the publication: Zinc absorption from maize-based meals enriched with edible house crickets: a randomized crossover stable-isotope study in Kenyan pre-school children"
keywords:
version: 2
identifiers:
  - type: doi
    value: 10.4121/06596213-fdd5-4dcd-9f39-c52f3be933b6.v2
license: CC BY 4.0
date-released: 2024-12-19