Squash

Squash (Cucurbita maxima), also known as kalabasa in Filipino, is a highly recommended vegetable due
to its richness of minerals, nutrients, vitamins, and organic compounds that keep people's lives healthier
(Staughton, 2020). Maintaining a healthy immune system is one of the significant roles of squash.
Among the advantage of squash is its affordability and availability in the market throughout the world.
Central American farmers were the first persons who cultivated North American squash over 8,000
years ago (Kavasch, 2022). As time passed by, this healthy vegetable made its way across thousands of
miles, and American Indian tribes set this healthy vegetable into their gardens. Furthermore, it was
grown and eaten by the Pueblo tribes of the southwestern united states, Apaches, Hopi, Navajo,
Havasupai, Papago, Pima, and Yuman tribes (Niethanmmer, 2021). Squash is one of the vegetables that
are well-known to be nutritious food in the Philippines. A great way to acquaint squash with Filipinos in
a delectable manner is by serving them in the form of tasty snacks such as puto or cupcakes. It is better
to produce a variety of food products by combining boiled mashed squash with standard recipes of food
products, such as cupcakes, a native delicacy made of wheat or rice flour, sugar, eggs, and a leavening
agent that is steamed (Valencerina, 2019). Cupcake becomes tastier by adding flavor (Sanchez, 2021).
Having high-quality food products can make consumers satisfy and can also improve the reliability of the
product. Squash cupcake is a unique version of the cupcake, which is getting tastier and more popular
due to its fluffy and soft texture and also due to its attractive appearance. In China, cupcakes are one of
the widely available products and are frequently offered as a dessert at any celebration table. The
manufacture, mouthfeel, texture, flavor, and attributes of the cupcakes are unique from those of the
steamed sponge products consumed in China, such as water content and appearance. Cupcake has
about AB ST R ACT Squash (Cucurbita maxima) or also known as kalabasa in Filipino, is one of the
abundant vegetables in the Philippines. Squash is well known for being a healthy vegetable that contains
vitamins A and C. This study aimed to ascertain the sensory acceptability of squash cupcakes. This study
utilized a quantitative-descriptive research design as a primary tool in determining the level of
acceptability of squash cupcakes and utilized a purposive sampling technique in the selection of
participants who are consumers of squash cupcakes. The participants of the study were 100 Isabelanon
people. The data gathered by a modified sensory evaluation score sheet was analyzed and interpreted
on the five-point hedonic scale. The findings led to the conclusion that the participants accepted the
squash cupcake in terms of its appearance, texture, color, taste, aroma, fluffiness, and including its
general acceptability. This study serves as the basis for future researchers to study the shelf-life of
squash cupcake and their marketability. Keywords: Squash cupcake; Sensory acceptability; Five-point
hedonic scale; Food product; VSU-Isabel. Irish Interdisciplinary Journal of Science & Research (IIJSR) Vol
6, Iss 4, Pages 59-69, October-December 2022 ISSN: 2582-3981 www.iijsr.com 60 120-150 calories
depending on the toppings and has approximately 6 grams of fats, 88 mg of sodium, and 9 grams of
carbohydrates what makes it healthier is that it contains Vitamin A, Calcium, Iron, Protein, and Fiber
(Nusselder, 2022). Filipinos satisfy eating different and innovative tasty foods, but most do not care
about the nutritional benefits they can get from the foods they eat. Researchers studied cupcakes with
squash a healthier version of a cupcake, and this product can quickly be adopted in the market because
of its authentic taste and healthier version (Boñaga et al., 2019). This study aimed to ascertain the
sensory acceptability of utilizing squash as an ingredient in making cupcakes in terms of its appearance,
texture, color, taste, aroma, fluffiness, and general acceptability by collecting data that will help to
achieve the desired outcome or goal of this study. ░ METHODOLOGY Research Design This study
focused on the sensory acceptability of the squash cupcake. To obtain a general overview of the subject
and to observe the respondents without affecting their behavior, this study used a quantitative-
descriptive research design to identify, analyze and determine the main objective of this study.
Participants and Sampling The respondents were ten (10) VSU-Isabel students, ten (10) VSU-Isabel
Teachers, ten (10) Parents, ten (10) habal-habal drivers, ten (10) market vendors, ten (10) bakery
workers, ten (10) senior citizens, ten (10) LGU workers, ten (10) store workers, and ten (10) hardware
workers. A total of one hundred (100) respondents from Isabel, Leyte, Philippines established the
sensory acceptability and squash cupcakes. Researchers utilized the purposive sampling technique in
selecting participants who are consumers of squash cupcakes. These respondents were from purposively
chosen sectors such as students, teachers, parents, habal-habal drivers, market vendors, bakery
workers, senior citizens, LGU workers, thrift store workers, and hardware workers who were identified
as consumers of cupcakes. Research Instrument A modified sensory evaluation score sheet called the
five-point Hedonic Scale was used to collect the data. This made it for the respondents to rate the
product. The treatment of the respondents was by their descriptive scores: five (5) for liked very much,
four (4) for liked moderately, three (3) for liked slightly, two (2) for disliked, and one (1) for disliked very
much. ░ RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS This section presents the analysis and interpretation of the data
gathered from one hundred respondents from Isabel, Leyte, Philippines, who tasted the squash
cupcakes. Appearance of the Squash Cupcake A squash cupcake product should have an attractive
appearance. Its physical appearance can affect its acceptability level because most of the customers of
the product matter the taste of the products based on how its looks. Irish Interdisciplinary Journal of
Science & Research (IIJSR) Vol 6, Iss 4, Pages 59-69, October-December 2022 ISSN: 2582-3981
www.iijsr.com 61 Table 1. Acceptability of the Appearance of Squash Cupcake Respondents Mean
Standard Deviation Description Bakery workers Teachers 4.00 4.90 0.87 0.32 Liked moderately Liked
very much Parents 4.90 0.32 Liked Very Much LGU workers 4.90 0.32 Liked Very Much Students 5.00 0
Liked Very Much Habal-habal drivers 5.00 0 Liked Very Much Market vendors 5.00 0 Liked Very Much
Senior citizens 5.00 0 Liked Very Much Thrift store workers 5.00 0 Liked Very Much Hardware workers
5.00 0 Liked Very Much Average 4.74 0.15 Liked Very Much Legend: Liked Very Much – 4.3 - 4.50; Like
Moderately – 3.5 - 4.2; Liked Slightly – 2.7 - 3.4; Disliked – 1.9 - 2.6; and Disliked Very Much – 1.0 - 1.8
Table 1 shows the acceptability of the appearance of squash cupcakes. As shown in the table, teachers,
parents, habal-habal drivers, market vendors, senior citizens, LGU workers, thrift store workers, and
hardware workers are the respondents who liked squash appearance cupcakes very much. Only the
bakery respondents liked the appearance of the squash cupcake moderately. The overall mean score of
the appearance of squash cupcakes is 4.74, which is liked very much. This meant that the appearance of
a squash cupcake was acceptable. The appearance of the squash food products was also liked in terms
of appearance in the study by Valencerina (2019) entitled "Formulation and Quality Shelf evaluation of
squash food products". Squash cupcake is one of her chosen squash food products that obtained a
weighted mean of 8.50 for the appearance, which the respondents liked very much. These findings
revealed that in terms of appearance, the squash cupcakes are made acceptable to the consumers.
These promote to increase more squash cupcake production in the market. Staughton (2020) cited that
adding boiled, mashed squash to cupcakes can further give health benefits to various people, and it is a
potentially rich source of carotenoids which can help prevent cardiovascular disease and
neurodegenerative disease. As mentioned by the respondents from LGU “Nindot kaayo inyo cupcake ba
kay lahi ra sa uban nga gibutangan ug food colors sama sa green og violet. Pero ang inyoha kay natural
ra gyud nga lami ug healthy pa samot nas mga bata” (Your cupcakes are great because they are different
from the others which are mixed with food colors such as green and violet. Your cupcake is still natural,
tasty and healthy even for children). Other respondents from faculty members of VSU-Isabel
Department of Teacher Education said, “Mo-patok ni inyo product especially sa pandemi