The flour confectionery (FC) market is a complex, highly competitive commodity market in which the ratio of price and quality plays a key role. The growing consumer demand for confectionery and the competitive potential among manufacturers determines the efficiency of the FC market. Given the chemical composition of FC, they contain a significant amount of nutrients important for the body. However, despite their high nutritional value, flour confectionery products manufactured using traditional technology cannot be considered balanced for certain categories of people. Such categories of people include: children, consumers who have a pre-diabetic state or suffer from diabetes, consumers who have genetic and acquired diseases, consumers living in difficult environmental conditions, who have a protein deficiency in the body, and the elderly. Among the large number of FC, a significant percentage is occupied by whipped biscuit semi-finished products (SBP), which require adjustment of the nutrient composition. Adjusting the composition of ZBN will allow them to expand their range; reduce the content of carbohydrates and fats, increase the protein content, that is, increase the biological value of products; improve the composition of the product, and the preparation technology, and also give the products functional properties. The biological value of ZBN is increased by adding products of plant or animal origin to their recipe, which have a significant protein content. In addition to plant and animal proteins, insects and the product of insect processing - flour, which contains a large amount of protein (up to 70.0%), fat, amino acids, minerals, and vitamins become an alternative source of protein. When adding insect flour to the recipe of bakery and pasta products, the amino acid composition increases, and the amount of protein, fat, and minerals in the products increases. Thus, such products are considered functional products with high protein content for children, athletes, and consumers with protein deficiency problems.
In addition to the low protein content, ZBN contains a large amount of carbohydrates, so they are not recommended for consumption by people who suffer from obesity or have a pre-diabetic or diabetic state. To give functional properties to products, there is a tendency to develop them with the replacement of granulated sugar with sugar substitutes. When replacing sugar in products with sugar substitutes, a decrease in the glycemic index is observed, which affects the speed of product absorption, and the carbohydrate content and energy value of the products are reduced.
Improving the amino acid composition and nutritional value of ZBN by adding insect flour (crickets), reducing the number of carbohydrates by replacing granulated sugar with natural sugar substitutes (fructose and polyol-erythritol), and producing products enriched with a protein component with a low glycemic index is quite relevant for confectionery enterprises, catering establishments, hotel, and restaurant businesses that have their catering units.
