A descriptive sensory evaluation of edible insects in Czechia: do the species and size matter?

Our recently conducted questionnaire survey focused on the acceptance of insects by Czech respondents and revealed different preferences between the consumption of whole and ground insects. To identify whether the species and size may affect the acceptance of insects, small and large species of Blattodea, Coleoptera, and Orthoptera were assessed in their whole form and as ground meals in white bread and chocolate cookies by a panel of 16 trained panelists. The hedonic ranking test of whole fried and salted insects showed that <i>Tenebrio molitor</i> was the best choice. According to the paired preference test, smaller insects were preferred in the case of Orthoptera and Coleoptera, but larger cockroaches were rated better than smaller ones. The overall acceptability of insect meal in food products was higher than that of whole insects. Only bread containing <i>Tenebrio molitor</i> and <i>Gryllus assimilis</i> meals were comparable to those of the control, whereas no significant differences were detected among the cookie samples. Conclusively, it was proven that the acceptance of whole insects is influenced more by species than size, and all tested meals can be used to fortify confectionary products with no adverse effects on their liking.