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reared, can be processed as fried and ground into a paste form, or as an extract of
protein, fat or chitin for enriching food and feed products. Entomophagy causes
numerous nutritional benefits with high protein content, minerals and vitamins, they
have comparable properties to traditional feed components such as fishmeal. The
spinal fluid, eyes and the fluid in the meat of the sea fish, turtle blood contains protein, and many types of seaweed are edible and contain carbohydrates (Smith 2009;
Haslett and Smith 2009; Wiza 2019). In addition to nutritional and health benefits,
there are a number of other advantages associated with the use of edible insects in
the food sector. One of the most important is the protection of the environment,
which is why the protein of edible insects is often called “ecological protein”.
Breeding of insects is associated with aspects that are important in terms of environmental protection, as smaller than in the case of farm animals use of drinking water,
feed, which can constitute waste of the agri-food industry, meeting the requirements
for ensuring food and feed safety, which solves another problem related to their
utilization. In addition, breeding of insects is associated with lower greenhouse gas
emissions (methane, nitrous oxide, ammonia) and faces. Insects can be used in agriculture as a fertilizer (Boczek and Pruszyński 2013; Krzywiński and Tokarczyk
2011; Rumpold and Schlüter 2013; Zielińska et al. 2015b). Saving agricultural land,
fodder and drinking water also means significantly lower farming costs (FAO 2013).
Another positive aspect is certainly increasing the economic potential of insect
breeding is the ease of distribution, high fertility rate and short reproduction cycle
(Schabel 2010). The main obstacle to using insects as food in European countries is
cultural barriers and the associated lack of acceptance among potential consumers,
and even reluctance and fear. Consumers in European countries react with disgust at
the perspective of consuming organisms that are not commonly known as food and
as pests (Yen 2010; Tan et al. 2015). However, their introduction into the diet does
not have to involve insect intake in the form in which they occur naturally. There are
many possibilities of processing insects to a form more acceptable to society in
developed countries, e.g. flours, crisps. Tan et al. (2015) argue that the method of
preparation of this type of products has a big influence on sensory acceptance
among consumers who have not eaten insects until now. Given in a form resembling
products known to consumers or used in processed form, as an addition to traditional products, they have a positive effect on organoleptic sensations (Hartmann
and Siegrist 2017; Tan et al. 2015). Similar results were obtained in studies carried
out in the Netherlands. Consumption of insects in total was associated with rejection by the respondents, while the form resembling conventional food gave rise to
acceptance. it was mostly accepted (House 2016). According to House (2016), the
key to increasing the motivation for repeated consumption by consumers of western
countries containing insects is therefore the form of the product, but also the taste,
price and ease of integration with individual nutritional practices. One of the few
studies on the attitudes of the Polish population towards consuming edible insects,
as an alternative source of food, showed a positive or neutral attitude of consumers
towards entomophagia (Bartkowicz 2017). Powdered insects can also be used in
food processing as a functional additive that binds water or creates emulsions, and
the development of methods of processing insects for food purposes enables
B. Sawicka et al.
reared, can be processed as fried and ground into a paste form, or as an extract of
protein, fat or chitin for enriching food and feed products. Entomophagy causes
numerous nutritional benefits with high protein content, minerals and vitamins, they
have comparable properties to traditional feed components such as fishmeal. The
spinal fluid, eyes and the fluid in the meat of the sea fish, turtle blood contains protein, and many types of seaweed are edible and contain carbohydrates (Smith 2009;
Haslett and Smith 2009; Wiza 2019). In addition to nutritional and health benefits,
there are a number of other advantages associated with the use of edible insects in
the food sector. One of the most important is the protection of the environment,
which is why the protein of edible insects is often called “ecological protein”.
Breeding of insects is associated with aspects that are important in terms of environmental protection, as smaller than in the case of farm animals use of drinking water,
feed, which can constitute waste of the agri-food industry, meeting the requirements
for ensuring food and feed safety, which solves another problem related to their
utilization. In addition, breeding of insects is associated with lower greenhouse gas
emissions (methane, nitrous oxide, ammonia) and faces. Insects can be used in agriculture as a fertilizer (Boczek and Pruszyński 2013; Krzywiński and Tokarczyk
2011; Rumpold and Schlüter 2013; Zielińska et al. 2015b). Saving agricultural land,
fodder and drinking water also means significantly lower farming costs (FAO 2013).
Another positive aspect is certainly increasing the economic potential of insect
breeding is the ease of distribution, high fertility rate and short reproduction cycle
(Schabel 2010). The main obstacle to using insects as food in European countries is
cultural barriers and the associated lack of acceptance among potential consumers,
and even reluctance and fear. Consumers in European countries react with disgust at
the perspective of consuming organisms that are not commonly known as food and
as pests (Yen 2010; Tan et al. 2015). However, their introduction into the diet does
not have to involve insect intake in the form in which they occur naturally. There are
many possibilities of processing insects to a form more acceptable to society in
developed countries, e.g. flours, crisps. Tan et al. (2015) argue that the method of
preparation of this type of products has a big influence on sensory acceptance
among consumers who have not eaten insects until now. Given in a form resembling
products known to consumers or used in processed form, as an addition to traditional products, they have a positive effect on organoleptic sensations (Hartmann
and Siegrist 2017; Tan et al. 2015). Similar results were obtained in studies carried
out in the Netherlands. Consumption of insects in total was associated with rejection by the respondents, while the form resembling conventional food gave rise to
acceptance. it was mostly accepted (House 2016). According to House (2016), the
key to increasing the motivation for repeated consumption by consumers of western
countries containing insects is therefore the form of the product, but also the taste,
price and ease of integration with individual nutritional practices. One of the few
studies on the attitudes of the Polish population towards consuming edible insects,
as an alternative source of food, showed a positive or neutral attitude of consumers
towards entomophagia (Bartkowicz 2017). Powdered insects can also be used in
food processing as a functional additive that binds water or creates emulsions, and
the development of methods of processing insects for food purposes enables
B. Sawicka et al.