The students baked gingerbread made from insects. “It's a combination of tradition and innovation”

As part of the activities of the scientific club, students of Cynology at the West Pomeranian University of Technology developed a recipe and baked gingerbread with insect flour. In this particular case, it was house cricket flour.

– It is a combination of tradition and innovation. We have prepared Christmas gingerbread with spices enriched with house cricket flour – says TVN24 Jagoda Kępińska-Pacelik, a PhD student at the Animal Nutrition and Food Laboratory at the Faculty of Biotechnology and Animal Breeding at the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin.

The recipe is not complicated. The students used spelled flour, cricket flour, baking soda, linseed instead of eggs, aromatic spices and water. Developing the recipe didn't take too long because the students modified an existing recipe.

– In my opinion, these gingerbreads taste no different from traditional ones. Here, the spice plays the biggest role and it masks the taste of the cricket. We used only 15 percent of insect flour, so it is not a large enough share to notice a significant difference in the taste of such a product – says Kępińska-Pacelik.

What distinguishes this product from the traditional one is definitely its nutritional values. This is because crickets have a high protein content. As the students explain, these insects are also a source of exogenous amino acids. – Moreover, insects are a source of fatty acids, in particular lauric acid, which supports our immune system, which seems to be particularly important at this time of year – adds Jagoda Kępińska.

Interestingly, the same gingerbread, but without the addition of honey, can also be given to animals as a snack.

In Poland and other European Union countries, four species of edible insects are currently allowed: the mealworm, the migratory locust, the golden thrush and the house cricket.

At the Faculty of Biotechnology and Animal Breeding of ZUT, scientific research on the use of insects in human and animal nutrition has been ongoing for several years. Are insects really the future of gastronomy?

– I hope so. I must admit, it won't be possible to do it so quickly that we will suddenly replace a pork chop or Christmas carp in jelly with insects. However, I hope that our research will be able to convince people who perceive insects negatively – says Dr. Hab. engineer Wioletta Biel, prof. ZUT from the Faculty of Biotechnology and Animal Breeding.

As prof. says Biel, more and more food containing edible insects appears on the market. However, consumers are not always aware of this.

– This food is already available in stationary stores. Until recently, you could basically buy them only through online stores. You can buy whole insects, but there are also products containing elements that appear “hidden” in protein bars, sweets, bread with insect flour, burgers, pates or ice cream. You just need to read the labels carefully, he explains.

Using insects in gastronomy is also more ecological than breeding farm animals.

– Breeding edible and feed insects has a positive impact on our environment. This means smaller surface area, lower water consumption, lower feed consumption per kilogram of protein produced, and finally, thinking about our planet, lower greenhouse gas emissions – adds Prof. White.