Acceptability of Water Chestnut Flour in “Puto” Making

Abstract

The combination of traditional food with modern taste is getting more common these days. One of the traditional foods which is being modified is puto, a popular Filipino snack. The main ingredients to make putoare flour, egg, and sugar. But today, we can find different kinds of puto with delicious and attractive topping. However, because of these modernizations, the nutritional value is being sacrificed. Thus, it is better to have a healthier alternative ingredient in making puto. Water chestnut or apulidare indigenous in the Philippines, China, Japan, India and Southeast Asia. Commercial cultivation of these plants is becoming popular in other countries. However, in the Philippines, it is being under-utilized and the farmers often neglect the potential of it in the agricultural industry. Thus, the research was undertaken based on the observation in our local community in which farmers disregard the potential of water chestnut. Also, incorporating water chestnut flour in making putoimproves the nutritional content of the product making it a good alternative for other well-refined flour used as the main ingredient. The research measured the level of acceptability of the different formulations of water chestnut flour in making puto through the sensorial characteristics analysis. Three formulations were made to identify the best preparation. It was found out that the Formulation 1 which has 1 cupwater chestnut flour and 3 cups all-purpose flour had the highest acceptability descriptive rating.