## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Freeze-Drying Process of Edible Insects Larvae  
The drying kinetics of untreated and PEF pre-treated _H. illucens_ and _T. molitor_ larvae during freeze drying (FD) are presented in Figure 1. Regarding to the course of the drying curves, it may be stated that the applied PEF treatment influenced the kinetics of the drying process. The freeze drying of the untreated larvae to reach a relative moisture content of MR = 0.1 lasted 5160 and 1245 min for _H. illucens_ and _T. molitor_, respectively (Table 1). [PERSON] et al. [19] have reported that _H. illucens_ larvae punctured on the surface prior to freeze drying were dried faster. As the authors observed, the time of the freeze-drying process declined equal to 66.7% in comparison to the untreated sample. The effect of puncturing the surface can be compared to PEF pretreatment, with the formation of electrically induced pores on the disintegrated cell membrane. However, drying of _H. illucens_ larvae exposed to PEF treatment at an energy intake of 5 kJ/kg took 7320 min, that is, 41.9% longer than the untreated sample. A possible explanation could be related to the greater leakage of water during PEF treatment and then its low content in the material undergoing drying. Furthermore, some water could be strongly bound by other compounds (e.g., protein). This is evidenced by the mild drying curve at the initial stage (Figure 1) and also the final moisture content, as the typical course of the drying curve at the initial stage is sharp, indicating a high moisture content [47].  
Figure 1: Freeze-drying kinetics of untreated (0 kJ/kg) and PEF-treated (5 and 20 kJ/kg) _H. illucens_ and _T. molitor_ larvae.  
For _T. molitor_ larvae, the results showed that only the samples subjected to the PEF with energy intake of 20 kJ/kg demonstrated a reduction in drying time equal to 45 min in comparison to the other ones. The decrease in the drying time of samples treated with PEF can be attributed to the phenomenon of electroporation affecting the cell membranes within the insect's body; therefore, undergoing a loss of their partial permeability, thereby aiding in the release of water through the acceleration of its diffusion. During PEF treatment, the cell membranes are losing their semi-permeability, which leads to an enhancement of mass and heat transfer [38; 41]. Following the permeabilization of the insect body, water molecules exhibit increased mobility through the pores, leading to heightened material porosity. This, in turn, reduces the time required for water molecules to reach the tissue surface via capillaries, resulting in an accelerated drying process [48]. It is worth emphasizing that drying time is not always reduced, especially when the specific energy intake is too high and the conductivity does not increase, which means the samples are oversaturated with electroporation, and thus did not result in shorter drying time. Furthermore, during the drying process, the tissue collapses due to larger PEF-induced disintegration of the cell membrane [36]. Based on the findings from this study, it can be concluded that the decrease in drying time was significantly influenced by both the specific energy intake of PEF pretreatment and the type of insect species.