The psychology of eating insects: A cross-cultural comparison between Germany and China

Hartmann, Christina; Shi, Jing; Giusto, Alice; Siegrist, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.foodqual.2015.04.013

Cited by 432 publications

(538 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…(5) To develop appropriate products that not only lower the barriers to trying, but also taste good and are appealing to eat [77,81]. (6) To incorporate insects into familiar food items [82]. (7) To use role models such as the former secretary general of the United Nations Kofi Annan who was interviewed about edible insects [83].…”

Section: Consumer Acceptancementioning

confidence: 99%

Edible insects contributing to food security?

2015

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Because of growing demand for meat and declining availability of agricultural land, there is an urgent need to find alternative protein sources. Edible insects can be produced with less environmental impact than livestock. Insect meal can replace scarce fishmeal as feed ingredient, in particular in the fast growing aquaculture industry. Edible insects can alleviate waste disposal problems by growing them on organic by-products. About 2000 insect species are eaten worldwide, mostly in tropical countries. They have adequate protein quantity and quality and high content of unsaturated fatty acids and minerals like iron and zinc. Promotion of insects as food and feed will require the insects to be farmed. In tropical countries this is done small-scale, but in particular for use of insects as feed, production is needed in large automated industrial facilities. Food safety problems relate to contamination with pathogens, requiring hygienic farming. Proper labelling may be required for people allergic to seafood and house dust mites as cross reactivity may occur. Western consumers are hard to convince to eat insects, even when aware of environmental, nutritional and food safety benefits and their excellent taste. Emotional and psychological impediments to acceptance have to be addressed. The way forward of edible insects to become a new sector in agriculture and the food and feed industry is discussed. In particular, legislation lags behind developments and needs to be addressed urgently.

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Section: Consumer Acceptancementioning

confidence: 99%

Edible insects contributing to food security?

2015

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“…The consumption of insects-also referred to as entomophagy-is originated in Asia, Africa, Central and South-America, where they are mainly handpicked in nature and consumed in whole or low processed form using culinary preparation techniques [12,13]. However, this traditional praxis is not likely to be adapted by western markets due to the highly industrialised food and feed industry and consumer habits [14][15][16]. Consequently, the development of industrial-scale mass rearing systems and efficient processes for the recovery of functional insectderived fractions such as protein, fat or chitin will be a prerequisite to promote consumer acceptance and the industrial use of edible insects in western countries and to explore a wide range of potential food and non-food applications [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improvement of techno-functional properties of edible insect protein from migratory locust by enzymatic hydrolysis

Purschke

Meinlschmidt

Horn

et al. 2017

Eur Food Res Technol

100

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Enzymatic hydrolysis of migratory locust (Locusta migratoria L.) protein flour (MLPF) was investigated as a method to improve the techno-functional properties. Experiments were conducted under variation of the applied proteases (Alcalase, Neutrase, Flavourzyme, Papain) or combinations thereof, enzyme-substrate ratio (0.05-1.0% w/w), heat pre-treatment (60-80 °C; 15-60 min), and hydrolysis time (0-24 h). Protein degradation was monitored in terms of degree of hydrolysis (DH) and SDS-PAGE. Solubility, emulsifying, foaming and water/oil binding properties of the hydrolysates were determined. In comparison to the control (DH = 5%), hydrolysis resulted in considerably higher DH values up to 42%. SDS-PAGE profiles revealed a steady decrease of bands between 25 and 75 kDa and an increase of low molecular weight bands (10-15 kDa). However, different heat pre-treatments resulted in impaired hydrolytic cleavage as evidenced by lower DH values. Protein solubility of MLPF hydrolysates was improved over a broad pH range from initially 10-22% up to 55% at alkaline conditions. Furthermore, hydrolysis resulted in enhanced emulsifying activity (54%) at pH 7, improved foamability (326%) at pH 3 and advanced oil binding capacity. The results of this study have clearly demonstrated the potential of targeted enzymatic degradation to improve the techno-functionality of migratory locust protein in order to produce tailored insect-based ingredients for the use in food applications.

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“…In addition, consumer acceptance towards the consumption of edible insects is one major concern in Western countries as entomophagy is not rooted in the traditional diets and insects are mostly rejected as disgusting, unclean and risk associated with regard to food contamination [18]. Nevertheless, several consumer studies have already shown that western consumers` willingness to eat edible insects increases when served in an invisible form, thus, transformed into known food items by conventional food processing [18][19][20][21]. Hence, insects are more likely to be used and consumed in a processed form enhancing product functionality, stability, safety and appearance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of pre-treatment and drying method on physico-chemical properties and dry fractionation behaviour of mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor L.)

Purschke

Brüggen

Scheibelberger

et al. 2017

Eur Food Res Technol

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protein (52.5-58.2%db) and fat (21.4-26.6%db) content. Highest protein recovery of max 72% was determined in the particle size fraction 500-1000 µm. Concluding, these results provide insights into physico-chemical characteristics of mealworms affected by pre-treatment and drying. The potential of dry fractionation techniques for protein enrichment and delivery of a variety of differently composed mealworm fractions was demonstrated and may provide an interesting potential to optimize water and energy consumption during insect fractionation.

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The psychology of eating insects: A cross-cultural comparison between Germany and China

Cited by 432 publications

References 47 publications

Edible insects contributing to food security?

Edible insects contributing to food security?

Improvement of techno-functional properties of edible insect protein from migratory locust by enzymatic hydrolysis

Effect of pre-treatment and drying method on physico-chemical properties and dry fractionation behaviour of mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor L.)

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