Trial reportThe American journal of clinical nutrition2022
Absorption of iron from edible house crickets: a randomized crossover stable-isotope study in humans.
Trial report in The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of Insect Consumption on Human Health: A Systematic Review of Human Studies.Nutrients · 2023Pooled it
- Effect of Edible Cricket Enriched Complementary Porridge and Nutrition Education on Linear Growth of Children 6-14 Months in Siaya County, Kenya: A Randomized 2 × 2 Factorial Trial.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Trial
- Zinc absorption from maize-based meals enriched with edible house crickets: a randomized crossover stable-isotope study in Kenyan pre-school children.Nature communications · 2025Trial
- Effects of Cricket Powder Supplementation on Gut Microbiota in High-Fat Diet-Fed Mice.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Buprestid Beetles of Togo: Ecological, Sociocultural, and Nutritional Impacts of a High Quality Food Source.Insects · 2026Article
- LiveFrontiers in veterinary science · 2026Article
- Fermentation of House Crickets (Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The Potential of Black Soldier Fly (Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Soybean Flour Fortified withNutrients · 2025Article
- Potential of edible insects as alternative protein source for the older adults.Current research in food science · 2025Review
- Article
- Safety of Acheta domesticus powder as a Novel food pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2015/2283.EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority · 2024Article
- Unlocking the Potential of Insect-Based Proteins: Sustainable Solutions for Global Food Security and Nutrition.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Novel insect-based child nutrition: the position of the nutritional committee of the Italian society of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition (SIGENP).Italian journal of pediatrics · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEdible insects are a novel source of animal protein. Moreover, edible insects contain iron concentrations similar to meat, potentially making them a valuable iron source for human consumers. Yet, it is unknown to what extent iron from insects is absorbed in humans.
objectivesIn this exploratory study, we assessed fractional iron absorption from house crickets (Acheta domesticus) consumed with refined (low-phytate, noninhibiting) or nonrefined (high-phytate, inhibiting) meals.
methodsIntrinsically [57Fe]-labeled and control crickets were reared. Six iron-balanced experimental meals were randomly administered crossover to 20 iron-depleted females (serum ferritin <25 µg/L; 18-30 y old), in 2 time-blocks of 3 consecutive days, 2 wk apart. Three meals consisted of refined maize flour porridge with either [57Fe]-labeled crickets, [58Fe]SO4 (reference meal), or unlabeled crickets plus [54Fe]SO4. The other 3 meals consisted of nonrefined maize flour porridge with the same respective additions. Blood samples were drawn to assess the 14-d isotope enrichment in erythrocytes, and meal-specific fractional iron absorption was calculated. In vitro digestion was used to explore possible explanations for unexpected findings.
resultsMean fractional iron absorption from 57Fe-labeled house crickets with refined maize porridge (3.06%) and from refined maize porridge with unlabeled crickets (4.92%) was lower than from the reference meal (14.2%), with respective mean differences of -11.1% (95% CI: -12.6%, -9.68%) and -9.29% (95% CI: -10.8%, -7.77%). Iron absorption from all meals based on unrefined maize porridge was low (<3%), and did not differ for the 2 meals with crickets compared with the reference meal. In vitro digestion showed that chitin, chitosan, and calcium limited iron bioaccessibility to a large extent.
conclusionsIron absorption from house crickets and fortified maize porridge with crickets is low, which may be explained by the presence of chitin and other inhibitors in the cricket biomass.This trial was registered at https://www.trialregister.nl as NL6821.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.