Edible Insects

The Science and Sensory Delight Behind the BugNug

By Emily Potts

When nutrition and dietetics major Adrianna Gonnella ’24 pursued an Arnold/Wheeler Scholarship (A/W) through the Family and Consumer Sciences Department, she had no idea she would end up developing a food product using insects.

“I have always had an entrepreneurial side, and my friend and I talked about starting a protein bar company,” she said. “I was also interested in renewable agriculture and sustainable farming, so I wondered if I could combine these two interests.”

First year A/W Scholars dedicate most of their time to research, so Gonnella started studying different types of proteins and she came across an article about using insects for protein. She discovered insect protein production requires seven times less water and 100 times less land than animal protein production and there are already two billion people who consume over 2,000 varieties of insects around the world.

“Insects can greatly reduce methane emissions and they are full of bioavailable protein and other nutrients, and can be produced cheaply,” Gonnella explained. “I wanted to design my A/W project around how to convince people to consume insects by finding a palatable recipe.”

Developing a Taste for Insects

Instead of creating a protein bar, she started developing the BugNug (as it was affectionately called)—a faux chicken nugget. Gonnella spent a lot of time in the food lab in Westlake Hall developing, testing, tasting and scrapping recipes trying to come up with an edible solution that was also visually pleasing.

“I learned that food development takes a lot of trial and error, and I was thankful that I was able to use the food lab for a good chunk of time during the summer of 2023,” she said.

Over time, there were significant changes to the recipe. Originally, Gonnella used grasshoppers, but she quickly discovered they had a fishy flavor that was hard to mask. “Mealworms ended up being much milder and nutty, and were more readily available,” she explained.  

Other factors such as texture, color and binding the nuggets required several ingredient changes over time. She tested rice flour, oat flour and corn flour, with corn flour being the winner because it had a mild flavor and left the nuggets with a lighter texture.

The Ultimate Test

Gonnella enlisted 44 participants—many friends and fellow dietetics majors—to complete a sensory analysis and post-consumption survey. Each person was given four BugNugs to sample, each with varying amounts of mealworm powder to corn flour ratios and asked to rate each nugget based on five characteristics: crust color, interior color, texture, flavor and aftertaste.

“We determined that for each characteristic the mean (average) score was pretty significant, because the results were not random—they were due to changes in the recipe,” Gonnella explained. The nuggets with a higher percentage of mealworms had a lower score. She also observed the participants looking very closely at the nuggets, which speaks to how important the appearance of food
is to consumers.

The post-survey results asked participants to rate their experience when presented with facts about the sustainability of the ingredients. “The panelists said they would be interested in other insect-based food items that were deemed sustainable, which shows how much social norm affects our food choices,” she revealed.

Although we won’t see BugNugs on store shelves any time soon, Gonnella was encouraged by her research and hopes that one day there will be an insect-based product at the grocery store. For now, she’s pursuing her master’s degree to become a dietician.

“I had professors in the Family and Consumer Sciences Department who supported me throughout my Arnold/Wheeler project. I also learned so much from my peers and from challenging each other to go further with our research” she explained. “I am so happy I made the decision to go to Bradley and I’m proud of the life I was able to build there.”