In this study, several factors (social status, age, gender, education, knowledge about healthy eating, and attitude to food) affecting consumer food choices (FC), including the relationship between the taste of food, FC, and depression, were analysed by using sensory traits and face reading technology. The first stage of the experimental scheme was the analysis of factors affecting consumer food preferences by using a questionnaire, while the second stage was evaluation of emotional expressions evoked by different food tastes in individuals with and without depressive disorders (DD), using the FaceReader 6 software. We show that gender is a significant factor for most emotional motivations, with a higher effect in females where there was an indication of increased cravings for sweets when feeling depressed. Age was a significant factor in the motivation to eat for positive feelings, while education had a significant influence on perceptions regarding healthy eating. Face reading technology was found to be sufficiently accurate to detect differences in facial expressions induced by different tastes of food, for groups with and without DD. In conclusion, many factors are of high importance in the analysis of food choices, and the results obtained using the FaceReader 6 technique are very promising for food-mood relation analysis. We suggest that mood has a strong link with the choice of food.

The aim of this study was to assess respondents’ opinions on the choice of edible insects as a food, and to evaluate the influence of cricket flour (ECF) (10, 20, 30%) on the quality of wheat bread (WB). Whereas ECF is an additional source of acrylamide precursors, in order to reduce acrylamide formation in WB, fermentation of ECF with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum-No.122 was applied. It was established that 70.7% of the respondents had never eaten insects and more than 30% would not choose them. However, ECF was suitable substrate for fermentation (lactobacilli count 8.24 log₁₀CFU/g, pH-4.26). In addition, fermentation reduced the total biogenic amines content in ECF (by 13.1%). The highest specific volume showed WB, prepared with fermented ECF (10, 20, 30%). All the tested WB showed similar overall acceptability (on average, 7.9 points). However, the highest intensity of emotion “happy” was induced by the WB, prepared with fermented ECF. Most of the WB with non-treated and fermented ECF showed higher acrylamide concentration (except WB with 10% of fermented ECF), in comparison with the control. Finally, fermentation is recommended for ECF inclusion in the main WB formula because fermentation improves not only quality but also reduces acrylamide concentration in WB.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of different amounts (40, 80 and 100 g) of non-fermented and fermented (with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum No. 122 and Lacticaseibacillus casei No. 210) cricket flour (Cr) on the quality characteristics and acrylamide formation in wheat biscuits (WB). The main formula for WB preparation consisted of 280 g of wheat flour, 100 g of margarine, 50 g of saccharose, 3 g of vanilla sugar, 50 g of eggs, 1.5 g of salt and 2.0 g of baking powder. It was established that the highest lactic acid bacteria (LAB) number was achieved in 48 h with No. 122 fermented Cr (11.8 log₁₀ CFU/g) and the lowest pH (4.34) was obtained after 48 h of Cr fermentation with both the tested LAB strains. The total colour differences were in the range of 17.54 to 22.08 and, in every case, fermented samples were clearly distinguished from untreated ones. Fermentation increased tyramine content in Cr (from 13.0 to 29.2 times). The main FAs in Cr were palmitic acid, stearic acid, octadec-9-enoic acid and linoleic acid. The lowest acrylamide content (84.1 µg/kg) was found in WB with 40 g of Cr fermented with No. 210. Significant differences in WB overall acceptability were not found. However, the highest intensity of emotion “happy” was elicited by WB with 80 g of Cr fermented with No. 122. Due to the demonstrated decrease of acrylamide content, fermented Cr can be considered a beneficial ingredient for the manufacture of WB.