Cricket Protein Bioavailability in Younger, Middle-Aged and Older Adults

NCT06906159 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: CriProB
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 45
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

A global shift towards sustainable food sources is now emerging, largely due to the immense environmental pressure that comes from producing animal foods, particularly beef. Insects present a novel source of sustainable dietary protein due to their high protein content. This is particularly relevant for older adults, as protein becomes increasingly more important in later life. It helps to maintain muscle as we age, which is crucial for reducing frailty, falls and early mortality. We want to find out more about the digestion and absorption of insect protein in older people to see if it could be a beneficial source of protein to help maintain muscle. We are interested in the use of insect-based solid foods, especially the use of flour made from grounded whole crickets. We want to explore the digestibility of cricket protein compared to a commonly used animal alternative (whey protein) to find out if it can be efficiently absorbed and utilised within humans.

Conditions

Cricket Protein; Whey Protein

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Gastric emptying

  Exhaled breath is used to assess the rate of gastric emptying of the protein muffins

  4 hour post-prandial period

• Plasma amino acids

  Blood samples are used to assess the plasma amino acid response to consuming the protein muffins

  4 hour post-prandial period

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Metabolic markers

  4 hour post-prandial period

Study Arms (2)

Cricket muffin

EXPERIMENTAL

Muffin made with cricket-derived protein powder

Dietary Supplement: Cricket protein

Whey muffin

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Muffin made with whey protein powder

Dietary Supplement: Whey protein

Interventions

Cricket protein DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Muffins made with cricket-derived protein from house crickets (Acheta domesticus )

Cricket muffin

Whey protein DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Muffins made with whey protein

Whey muffin

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Healthy adult males and females in general good health, aged between 18 - 35 years, 40 - 55 years or over 65 years
• BMI between 18.5 and 35 kg/m2
• Stable weight for at least 3 months
• Volunteers must be able and willing to give informed written consent
• Volunteers must be able to eat egg
• Volunteers must be willing to provide blood samples

You may not qualify if:

• Current or previous gastrointestinal conditions (e.g. Crohn's disease, Coeliac disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome) - assessed via a health questionnaire
• Those with diabetes or other metabolic conditions - assessed via a health questionnaire
• Those taking food supplements which may impact digestion (e.g., digestive enzymes, probiotics, fibre supplements)
• Those smoking, using nicotine products (e.g., e-cigarettes, patches) or not abstained from these activities for more than 6 months - assessed via a health questionnaire
• Pregnant or lactating
• Volunteers with a high daily caffeine intake \> 300 mg/day (more than 5 cups of standard coffee per day)
• Drug or alcohol abuse in the last 2 years
• Those who are currently taking part in a clinical trial or another research study or have taken part within the last 3 months
• Those with food allergies, dietary intolerance or Coeliac disease - assessed via a health questionnaire
• Those following weight loss diets

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Surrey: lead
• HOP: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Surrey

Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7XH, United Kingdom

Location

MeSH Terms

Interventions

capsid protein, Cricket paralysis virus; Whey Proteins

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Milk Proteins; Animal Proteins, Dietary; Dietary Proteins; Proteins; Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins; Whey; Milk; Dairy Products; Food; Diet, Food, and Nutrition; Physiological Phenomena; Food and Beverages

Study Officials

• James Rutherford, MSc

  University of Surrey

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: TRIPLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: One member of the research team is in charge if blinding the muffins to 'A' and 'B'
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Repeated measures randomised crossover design

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 8, 2025
• First Posted: April 2, 2025
• Study Start: March 11, 2024
• Primary Completion: March 10, 2025
• Study Completion: March 10, 2025
• Last Updated: April 2, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

GB (1)