Lumen Winter 2023 - Flipbook - Page 19
Cricket okonomiyaki
As an open resource, this provides
standardised language for describing the
flavour and texture of edible insects, as well
as a useful tool for industry and research.
“We’re currently conducting studies to
understand the impact of what insects eat
and how we prepare them on their taste and
nutritional benefits.”
“We recruited people to be trained in tasting
and describing edible insects such as crickets
(Acheta domesticus) and mealworms (Tenebrio
molitor),” Ishka says.
Once sensory profiles and chemical analysis
are complete, the final step is identifying
what is impacting adoption.
“Initially the participants were asked to find
words to describe the aroma, flavour and
texture of different samples.
“We then combined and refined those words
to generate a lexicon, which was used to
develop sensory profiles for different insect
species and their common preservation and
cooking methods.”
The next step is compositional analysis.
This will provide a greater understanding
of the relationship between insect diet and
preparation with nutritional and aroma
profiles.
This will be done in collaboration with
the CSIRO’s Food Innovation Centre at
Werribee, Victoria.
“Aroma compounds have an impact on end
flavour,” Ishka says.
This involves understanding what insects
and preparation methods consumers
would prefer and how they would eat them.
Providing solutions to encourage people to
add insects to their everyday diet will follow.
“One of the biggest issues we have is that
in countries such as Australia and the
United Kingdom, insects have negative
connotations,” Ishka says.
“That’s why people have an aversion to
eating insects, even if they are farm-raised
specifically for human consumption and are
completely safe for us to eat.
“To overcome this, we need to try and
present insects in the context of food.
“Rather than showing someone just a
cricket, we are exploring ways to make
people more familiar with insects as
an ingredient. For example, providing
information about the flavour and texture of
crickets, and how they can be used – such
as in stir-fry or as a powder in soup stock so
that you can’t see it.”
“One of the biggest
issues we have is that
in countries such as
Australia and the United
Kingdom, insects have
negative connotations,”
The researchers will use face-reading
technology to analyse the emotional
response people have when presented with
insects in food.
Ishka expects to have the study completed
by mid-2025, but she knows changing longheld perceptions will take much longer.
“Introducing any new food into our diet can
be hard, but insects present some additional
challenges that we are working to overcome,”
she says.
LUMEN – WINTER 2023 19
