## 1 Introduction  
The nutritional and functional value of plant food products depends not only on their botanical origin but also on the technological processes or transformation, which can be achieved by either the use of biological (e.g., enzyme treatment) or physical methods (e.g., extrusion) [1, 2]. In addition to nutritive value (e.g., macro- and micronutrients), the pasting properties and the digestibility of food ingredients and products are important parameters for evaluating the functionality and nutritional value of food and food mixtures [1, 2, 3]. Edible insects have been evaluated and utilised as an alternative source of proteins for human consumption and animal feeds because of their nutrient composition and functionality [1, 2, 3]. The utilisation of insects as an alternative source of protein has increased, and research and development in this sector have grown in recent years [1, 2, 3]. Insects such as mealworms, buffalo worms, and crickets have been used in wheat bread fortification to improve the nutritive and functional value of bread and gluten-free bread, as well as to increase the protein content of muffins [2, 3]. It has been also reported that the incorporation and blending of insects into cereal flour can improve the aroma of a food product and modify its texture, including an increase in hardness or improvements in consistency [2]. Insect flour can also contain chitin and chitosan, which inhibit the growth of some microorganisms; however, this might have an influence on the functional properties of the food [2]. The rapid visco analyser (RVA) is an empirical instrument used to measure the pasting properties of starch and starchy foods [4; 5; 6; 7], but it may also be used to evaluate the pasting and gelatinisation properties of animal feeds [8]. In simple terms, the RVA is a heating and cooling viscometer that measures the viscosity of a sample across a standard or time protocol (usually a few minutes) while the sample is stirred [4; 9; 10]. The RVA is mainly used to determine the pasting process of the starch in a sample (e.g., pure starch or flour) by mixing the sample with water and forming a slurry that is subjected to stirring and heat [10; 11]. During this process, a gel is formed as the starch granules swell and totally dislocate following gelatinisation [10; 11]. At the end of the analysis, an RVA profile is generated, which is comprised of different parameters such as peak viscosity (PV), breakdown (BKD), setback (STB), holding strength (HS), and final viscosity (FV) [10; 11]. The RVA instrument is generally utilised in the routine analysis of cereals to estimate eating quality and other starch processing parameters [5]. However, this instrument can be utilised not only to define the pasting properties of cereals and starchy foods but also in other food applications including simulating the processing conditions in a brewhouse [6], mimicking the mashing process [12], and evaluating viscosity changes associated with starch gelatinisation, proteolysis, and saccharification in different food ingredients and products [12]. Moreover, it has been used to estimate the functional properties of starch and protein during the processing of whole grain ingredients and products [13], to evaluate barley grain and malt quality [14], and to predict rice cooking quality [15]. Most recently, the utilisation of chemometric data analysis has been shown to improve the analytical power of the RVA by incorporating techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares (PLS) regression [5; 12; 16; 17; 18]. In addition, the use of different pre-processing techniques to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio of the profile, such as derivatives (e.g., first- and second derivatives), has been evaluated and tested to improve the interpretation of RVA profiles [5; 12; 16; 17; 18]. Most of the current studies reported the addition of insect powders to cereal flours (e.g., wheat, corn); however, no reports were found on the addition of insect powder to pulses such as chickpeas or flaxseed meal.