Cricket powder as a flour replacement in biscuits: chemical-physical and sensory evaluation

The increase in the world population and the consequent prevision of traditional animal protein will require more and more agricultural land for crops to feed livestock. Proteins from insect, could represent a good end sustainable alternative to animal-based proteins. The overall objective of the thesis was to use cricket powder to develop a biscuit based on it and to assess acceptability of the proposed biscuit. Two different types of cricket flours have been used to make a series of biscuits containing different percentage of cricket powder in substitution to rice flour. To investigate the technological properties of cricket powder, a sequence of physical analysis was performed: size mensuration (weight, width, and thickness), humidity, color measurement, texture analysis. Finally, a sensorial test was prepared where 22 testers evaluated 7 parameters of biscuits: appearance, odor, taste, flavor, texture, overall satisfaction and the willing to purchase the biscuits