Cricket Seitan : Development and Exploration of Textural Attributes and Sensory Analysis of Cricket-based Protein Alternatives.

Abstract

This master’s thesis explored how the incorporation of cricket flour into a seitan-based product affected the physical properties and sensory attributes, including taste, texture, smelll and appearance, based on consumer sentiment. The project aimed to develop a high protein, “Entomo-vegan” base-product in collaboration with the food company Eat:em, using crickets as a sustainable protein source.
Five different cricket levels: 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%, were used in the product and were evaluated. The study included an affective sensory analysis test with 51 untrained participants evaluating each cricket level based on a 9-point hedonic scale system for each sensory attribute. Secondly, a Texture Profile Analysis (TPA) was conducted with triplicate samples from three different batches for each cricket level measuring six textural attributes of the product (Hardness, Resilience, Adhesiveness, Cohesion, Chewiness and Springiness). Lastly water activity was measured. Statistical analysis was conducted to identify significant differences between the cricket levels, and a Principal Component analysis was used to investigate the relationship between the variables.
The results showed that the cricket flour generally decreased the consumer liking of the product, with 0% cricket level receiving highest ratings in the overall liking of the product and future consumption intent. However, both 10% and 20% cricket level also received moderately good ratings, suggesting potential for further development. TPA results showed that higher cricket levels led to a decrease in Resilience, Springiness and Cohesiveness and Chewiness, while Adhesiveness increased with increased cricket level – attributes that seemed to negatively influence consumer liking. This could be due to disruption of gluten network that provides shape and texture of seitan. In contrast to this is Hardness that appeared to be the highest at 20% cricket level. This, however, could not be confirmed by the statistical analysis and did not appear to be a key driver for consumer acceptance.
All cricket levels displayed high water activity, which did not seem to correlate with an increase in cricket level. Nonetheless, the high water activity levels indicate a potential risk of microbial growth and moulds, which highlights the need for proper preservation and storage to ensure food quality in future product development.
Despite limitations such as relatively small and homogenous participant selection, difficulties of standardising cooking and serving, and the lacking possibility to reduce consumer perception and bias evaluation, results provide valuable guidance for further development of insect-based products. Optimisation possibilities should include future studies in consumer liking using blind-test, further development of the product with proper seasoning, preparation and dough enhancers. Nutritional analysis, cost calculation and further product marketing of the benefits of crickets are advised.

Popular Abstract

Crickets – a part of your future lunch box?
Eating crickets? Yes, you heard that right - crickets might not sound delicious at first, but they could actually help us reduce our environmental impact while feeding the growing planet.
In this master´s thesis, I explored how the addition of cricket flour added to seitan (a chewy, meat-like protein product, made from wheat gluten) affects how consumers like the product and how the texture changes. This project was made in collaboration with the food startup Eat:em to develop a plant-based product based on seitan, with a little twist: the addition of cricket flour.
Why crickets? Because they are both nutritious and environmentally friendly. They require less land, water and feed than conventional livestock and are packed with protein, micronutrients and dietary fibres that are important for body function. Combined with seitan, they could offer a sustainable and more nutritious protein alternative.
But will people eat them? Five different levels of cricket flour in the product, from 0% to 40% were tested. 51 people tasted and rated the samples based on their personal preferences in a so-called Sensory Analysis test. They evaluated questions regarding taste, texture, smell and appearance, including how they liked the product overall and if they are willing to buy it in the future. And yes - the consumers seemed to like the product! Although the sample without cricket flour got the highest scores, all the samples were rated above neutral, especially the ones with 10% and 20% cricket flour, which stood out among the cricket-enhanced versions. That is promising since they were unseasoned and served in a plain form. So, with proper flavouring and product development, people could be more open to insect-based food than we think, especially when moderate cricket levels are incorporated. Taste and texture seemed to be the most important for the consumers to like the product and should be the main focus in product development.
The texture was also measured mechanically, using a method called Texture Profile Analysis and is basically a robot arm compressing the sample to simulate taking a bite. This provides interesting information about the textural properties of the product that can be described objectively. The test showed that the incorporation of crickets made the product less bouncy, less elastic, less chewy and got stickier. Why is this? The gluten network in seitan creates a stretchy network, almost like a spider web, that holds the dough together. With the addition of cricket flour, this protein network gets disrupted. Although it isn’t completely certain, cricket levels at 20% seemed to make the texture a bit firmer and could be due to the presence of hard components from their exoskeleton. However, the firmness did not seem to matter much to the people tasting the products. Another finding in the study was that the product holds on to a lot of water, called water activity, and means it will need proper packaging and storage to stay fresh and safe to eat.
So, what can we do with this? While we still may face psychological barriers to eat crickets, Cricket Seitan shows real potential. With the right seasoning and texture optimisation, this type of product could offer a tasty sustainable alternative to traditional protein and maybe land in your lunchbox in the future.

• author: Wester, Johanna
• supervisor: Stephen Burleigh; Nils van Der Knaap
• organization: Food Technology and Nutrition (M.Sc.)
• course: KLTM06 20251
• year: 2025
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Agriculture and Food Sciences; Technology and Engineering
• keywords: crickets, gluten, seitan, consumer acceptance, consumer liking, sensory analysis, Texture profile analysis, water activity, food engineering nutrition and food
• language: English
• id: 9194267
• date added to LUP: 2025-06-13 11:49:59
• date last changed: 2025-06-13 11:49:59