## 1 Introduction  
The possibility of using edible insects as a novel food resource is gaining interest. Eating insects, typically termed as entomophagy, is not a new concept of food consumption. Insects have been part of the daily diet of approximately 2 billion people worldwide for many years. They are especially eaten in Asia, Africa, as well as South America, while their consumption is still in its infancy in Western countries [1, 2, 3, 4]. Nevertheless, some insect species are studied in terms of feed and food uses. Among them, the most common are yellow mealworm (_Tenebrio molitor_) and black soldier fly (_Hermetic illucens_). It is also worth noting that yellow mealworm (_Tenebro molitor_) has been recently approved and listed as a novel food in the European Union. Interest in insects is related to their chemical composition, which makes them a valuable source of many important nutrients [5; 6; 7; 8]. They are valued for their content of valuable compounds such as protein and fat. According to the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/169 of 8 February 2022, the content of protein and fat for blanched and freeze-dried _T. molitor_ larvae should be in the range of 54.0-60.0% and 27.0-30.0%, respectively. Comparable results were provided, for example, by [PERSON] et al. [6], obtaining 47.1-53.3% of protein and 29.5-38.4% of fat, as well as by [PERSON] et al. [9], who obtained 53.2% of protein and 27.7% of fat. Despite these advantages, insects can also be a source of microbiological hazards, including viruses, bacteria, parasites, or fungi [10; 11; 12]. However, pathogenic microorganisms can also be found primarily in the digestive tract of insects [13; 14]. This issue is very crucial due to their potential contribution to the transmission of numerous diseases [12; 15]. To date, studies of yellow mealworm (_Tenebro molitor_) and black soldier fly (_Hermetiu illucens_) indicate the presence of _Enterobacteriaceae_[16; 17; 18; 19; 20], _Vibrio_[17; 21], _Listeria_[19; 21; 22; 23], _Salmonella_[16; 19; 21; 24], _Staphylococcus_[16; 18; 25; 26], and spore-forming bacteria [11; 21; 22; 23]. Nevertheless, microbiological data for fresh and processed _H. illucens_ are limited, indicating the need for further research. Microbiological hazards raise doubts about the possibility of the widespread use of insects for food purposes. Therefore, appropriate processing beforehand is needed [27; 28], such as blanching before drying as the European Union Regulations indicate. This is not unexpected, since thermal processing effectively reduces microbial load [6; 18; 27]. Freeze drying is a method of drying based on the sublimation process, i.e., that removes water from frozen material under reduced pressure and low temperature. The complexity of the lyophilization process (freezing, ice sublimation, and desorption) results in its lasting a long time, and thus it is energy- and cost-intensive [29; 30]. Thus, the freeze-drying process can be enhanced by disrupting cellular structure using pretreatment methods. A traditional thermal method is blanching, but some unfavorable changes in texture, sensory profile, and nutritional value may occur [29]. Therefore, non-thermal techniques, such as pulsed electric field (PEF), can also induce the disruption of the cellular structure. The PEF treatment involves the application of a high-voltage electric field to disrupt the integrity of cell membranes. As a consequence, cell membranes undergo an electroporation phenomenon, which is associated with the formation of new membrane pores and the growth of existing ones. Thereby, its permeability increases and intensifies the mass and/or heat transfer processes [31; 32]. For example, an enhanced freeze-drying time was reported for apple [33; 34], potato [35], or basil leaves [32]. Moreover, reduced drying time was also observed for insects during convective drying [36; 37] and infrared-convective drying [38]. On the other hand, PEF also may affect various physical properties of dried products like color or hygroscopicity.