## 2 Materials and Methods
### Antioxidant Characteristics  
2.4.1. Preparation of Extracts  
A volume of 20 mL of 80% ethanol was used to extract one gram of a homogenised material (IKA, A10, Germany, Mesh 8) for two hours. The supernatant from centrifugation conducted at 3000\(\times\)g (Himac CT 6E, Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) for 20 min was used for total-polyphenyl-content determination and DPPH assay. 2.4.2. DPPH--Antioxidant Activity  
According to the steps outlined by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [12], 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay was used to determine the samples' capacity to eliminate free radicals. DPPH (0.012 g) was dissolved in 100 mL of ethanol, and 4 mL of the DPPH solution was added to the extracts (1 mL). The absorbance of the extracts was measured at 510 nm using a BioTek Microplate Reader (ELx800, Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA). Antioxidant activity of the samples was expressed as mg of Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) per gram of dry matter. 2.4.3. Total Polyphenol Content  
The total polyphenol content of the samples was determined spectrophotometrically using the Folin-Ciocalteu method, modified by [PERSON] et al. [13]. The Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (0.1 mL), 0.1 mL of the sample extract, and 1 mL of 20% sodium carbonate were combined. BioTek Microplate Reader (ELx800) was used to detect absorbance at 700 nm. The total content of polyphenols was expressed as mg of gallic acid equivalent (GAE) per dry matter. 2.5. Sensory Characteristics  
A sensory panel of 25 evaluators, including 15 women and 10 men, aged 25 to 65, assessed the organoleptic qualities of the produced gingerbread crackers. The panel lists were asked to assess the overall acceptability, general appearance, taste, and aroma of the crackers. The samples were rated using a 9-point hedonic scale, with values ranging from 9 (very like) to 1 (strongly dislike). 2.6. Statistical Analysis  
All analyses were performed in triplicate, and the findings are the averages with standard deviation of these duplicates. Using SAS 2009 software, the experimental data were subjected to analysis of variance (Duncan's test) at a 0.05 level of confidence [14]. 3.1. Physicochemical and Nutritional Evaluation of the Prepared Crackers  
The dry matter content of the tested samples ranged from 90.31% to 91.06% (Table 2). The tested crackers contained more than 80% of dry matter and less than 20% of water, which is typical of products with a long shelf-life. The content of fat ranged from 30.82% to 34.97% (Table 2). The addition of edible insect powder resulted in an increased fat content compared to the control sample. Fat is the second most abundant component of edible insects after proteins. It has been reported that quantities of polyunsaturated fatty acids found in the fatty acid profile of edible insects are proportional to those in fish and poultry. According to [PERSON] [3], insects accumulate significantly lower levels of cholesterol compared to other animals. In a study by [PERSON] et al. [15], linoleic acid was the major polyunsaturated fatty acid in the bread with cricket addition, while polyunsaturated fatty acids in these breads are correlated with lower oxidative stability. In a study by [PERSON] et al. [16], oleic acid was found to be dominant in powders of mealworm, cricket and lesser mealworm (from 28.79% in cricket to 42.95% in mealworm). This was followed by palmitic acid (from 23.76% in lesser mealworm to 26.02% in Acheta domesticus). Small amounts of other polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as arachidonic acid (from 0.11% in cricket to 0.32% in Tenebrio molitor), were also determined. According to the same authors, the ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids in the investigated insect powders was generally unfavourable, ranging from 0.59 (mealworm powder) to 0.89 (other edible insects). Moreover, edible insects contain low levels of omega-3 fatty acids. The crude protein content (Table 2) of the analysed samples ranged from 14.83 to 15.99%.