When Celeste Ibarra-Herrera moved to Puebla, Mexico, she was amazed by chapulines, or grasshoppers. These insects are a popular ingredient in local dishes like tacos, guacamole, and quesadillas. “They’re everywhere in restaurants here,” she says, recalling her first taste of edible insects.
Now a bioengineering professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Ibarra-Herrera leads research on incorporating insects into our diets. As part of the Food Security and Nutrition project, she aims to make insect ingredients more common and appealing.
One of her team’s main efforts focuses on using chapulines in bread. They chose this staple food because it’s eaten worldwide, making it a great vehicle for introducing insect ingredients to a broader audience. “We need people to see insects as a normal part of their food,” Ibarra-Herrera explains.
Ibarra-Herrera’s research began with studying the nutritional content of various insects, starting with grasshoppers. It turned out that changing their diets could enrich them with more protein and fiber. Feeding them soy sprouts or maize leaves, for example, showed promising results.
Yet, fit grasshopper flour into bread isn’t straightforward. The color, taste, and texture change, making it less appealing to some. “Even in simple bread, the dough gets tough, and the bread turns out denser,” says Ibarra-Herrera. This “grasshopper flavor” can deter those unfamiliar with eating insects.
To tackle this challenge, the research team experimented with fermentation, using koji mold, which has been used in Asia for centuries to ferment food. They discovered that fermentation not only changed the flavor—making it less pronounced—but also improved the texture of the bread.
In their experiments, they baked a total of ten loaves: eight with grasshopper flour and two control loaves with wheat flour. The results were significant. Bread made with fermented insect flour resembled traditional bread in texture, color, and volume. The challenge, however, lies in getting people to accept insect-based foods. “If consumers don’t warm up to this idea, everything we do is pointless,” she admits.
“It’s crucial to build a safe, clean supply chain for insect ingredients,” adds Ibarra-Herrera. Her colleague, Esther Pérez-Carrillo, highlights the chicken-and-egg situation within the food industry: “Without demand, manufacturers won’t produce insect-based products.”
Looking to the future, Ibarra-Herrera’s team aims to further increase protein content in insect-based bread and develop nutritious beverages using insect ingredients. With growing global populations, rethinking food sources is essential. “We need nutritious and affordable options,” she insists.
As public perceptions shift, incorporating insects into everyday foods may become more common. “It all starts in the kitchen with family,” she reflects, emphasizing the significance of home-cooked meals in changing dietary habits.
Insect consumption isn’t just about nutrition; it’s also about sustainability. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), insects are efficient food converters, requiring less land and water than traditional livestock. With these benefits, the normalization of insects in our diets could serve both health and environmental aims.
As Ibarra-Herrera continues her work, she hopes to inspire more collaboration and research in this field, seeing it as vital to future food security.
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insects, flour, Celeste Ibarra-Herrera, grasshoppers, protein, fermentation, Food Technology Magazine, March/April 2026, Volume 80, No. 2
