Foxtail Millet Setaria italica (L.): Acceptability of Indigenous Food Products Among the Mindanaoans, Philippines

Özet

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.) is one of the indigenous food crops in the Philippines. It is a marginalized cereal crop known for its climate resiliency and nutritional properties. Along with the green revolution and change in crop production preferences, it is left uncirculated thus regarded as a nearly forgotten crop. This study was conducted to assess the acceptability of traditional food products derived from foxtail millet as identified by foxtail millet growers in Northern Mindanao.  Four traditional food products were prepared, namely: “dawacaldo”, “biko”, plain porridge, and “puto”. These food products were subjected to sensory evaluation by 60 respondents of different age brackets using a 9-point Hedonic rating scale. Among the evaluators, 72% had no knowledge about the crop. Frequency counts, mean, standard deviation and one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data gathered. Significant differences between treatment means were determined using the Least Significant Difference (LSD) Test. Results revealed that the four food products derived from foxtail millet were “liked very much” to “liked extremely” by evaluators across age groups. Nevertheless, “dawacaldo” was the most preferred among the products served to them. Dawacaldo is an enriched porridge with addition of chicken and herbs that improved its total acceptability. Thus, this food product was highly acceptable by the community. Yet, there is a dire need for reintroduction of foxtail millet in the Philippines and the commercialization of its food products.