Snacks from the Sea: A Cross-National Comparison of Consumer Acceptance for Crackers Added with Algae
Open accessAbstract
Abstract One of the main priorities of current food systems is to develop new and healthy foods to overcome food shortages considering consumer’s expectations. Algae are receiving increasing attention as nutritious and sustainable food, though studies are limited mainly to Arthrospira and Chlorella species and cross-national research is scant. This study aims to investigate European consumers’ liking and perception of crackers added with powders from Arthrospira platensis (green Spirulina), isolated proteins from Arthrospira platensis (blue Spirulina), Palmaria palmata, Saccharina latissima, Lithothamnium calcareum and a control cracker. Belgian, German, Italian, and Swedish participants (n = 413, 18–69 years, 59.8% females) evaluated cracker liking and perceived sensory attributes using the check-all-that-apply (CATA) task. Food neophobia, familiarity towards, and consumption of algae were also collected. Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) analyses showed that across all countries, Lithothamnium calcareum, blue Spirulina and the control samples were perceived as similar and were liked more than the other crackers. “Sweet”, “toasted bread”, and “bland” attributes were significant contributors to liking, while “off-flavor”, “fishy flavor”, “umami” and “speckled” contributed negatively. PLSR performed by country provided similar results except for Italians who liked the green Spirulina sample equally as the samples added with Lithothamnium calcareum, blue Spirulina, and the control. These cross-national differences can be ascribed to Italians’ lower food neophobia level. The present results suggest that Lithothamnium calcareum is the most promising algal species to be exploited in food formulations and that the use of isolated proteins from Spirulina (blue Spirulina) significantly reduces off-flavors, consequently improving consumers’ acceptance.
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Using Spirulina extracts like C-PC improves acceptability, but using whole biomass remains an underexplored approach.
“Additionally, using Spirulina extracts like C-PC [96] improves acceptability, but using whole biomass remains an underexplored approach;”
From Valorization of Microalgae as Multifunctional Protein Sources in Plant-Based Systems: Structural, Functional, and Processing Challenges (2026) · cites this paper as [96]
The Abstract and results report that isolated Spirulina proteins improved cracker acceptance compared with Spirulina powder, but the passages do not identify the extract specifically as C-PC. The Introduction says existing research had used entire microalgal cells and that fractionated ingredients—not whole biomass—were underexplored. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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- Authors
- Rabitti, N. S., Bayudan, S., Laureati, M., Neugart, S., Schouteten, J. J., Apelman, L., Dahlstedt, S., & Sandvik, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Milan (IT)
- Ghent University (BE)
- University of Göttingen (DE)
- Uppsala University (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Rabitti, Noemi Sofia
- ORCID
- Venue
- European Food Research and Technology
- Published
- 2024-04-27
- Volume
- 250
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 2193-2209
- ISSN
- 0373-0174 (ISSN-L)
- 1438-2377
- 1438-2385
- OpenAlex
- W4395690904
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 3
- FWCI
- 4.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- European Food Research and Technology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Uppsala University Publications (Uppsala University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca (Universita Degli Studi Di Milano) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- GoeScholar The Publication Server of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Università degli Studi di Milano
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Sensory Analysis and Statistical Methods
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Seaweed-derived Bioactive Compounds
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling
- Keywords
- crackers, consumer acceptance, food liking, sensory properties, food neophobia, Spirulina, Spirulina platensis, Lithothamnium calcareum, Palmaria palmata, Saccharina latissima, algal proteins, off-flavor, cross-national comparison, healthy food
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