IJERD ± International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2018) 9-2

Research article
erd

Utilization of Atis “Annona squamosa Linn Desserts
REGUCIVILLA A. POBAR*
Bohol Island State University, Tagbilaran City, Philippines
Email: regupobar@gmail.com
Received 3 January 2018

Accepted 25 October 2018(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Atis or Annona squamosa Linn or Sugar Apple in English is one of the top 10
tropical and exotic fruits but one of the forgotten fruits in the Philippines. It is a sweet andcreamy fruit with lots of seeds. Its flesh is sweet, white to yellow and resembles and taste
like custards. The edible portion coats the seeds generously. It has a distinct sweet smellingfragrance. It is high in energy, an excellent source of Vitamin C and manganese, a goodsource of thiamine and Vitamin B 6, and provides Vitamin B2, B3,B9, iron, magnesium,
phosphorus, and potassium in fair quantities. This study utilized this fruit as ingredient ofdifferent kinds of desserts such calamay, deep fried dessert, butter scotch and tart. These
desserts are prepared in different ways using tools, utensils and equipment which areavailable in rural communities. Dessert is important because it can enhance ones physicaland emotional wellness in numerous ways if approached properly. Hence, the objectives ofthis study is to determine the acceptability levels of different dessert products using atis as
main ingredient in the five sensory attributes such as appearance, taste, flavour, texture andoverall liking. It further aimed to determine the shelf life and the marketability of eachproduct. This is an experimental study with 100 participants composed of food experts tojudge the different products using the four point Hedonic Scale. It was found out that thefour products are all acceptable in the five sensory attributes. Each product has different
shelf life with calamay having the shortest shelf life and butter scotch and tart having thelongest. It was also found out that all the products are marketable. It can be concluded that
A i Annona squamosa Linn can be ed in p od cing diffe en de e . I i hen
recommended that these products be promoted so that the forgotten Atis can gain
recognition as a good ingredient for dessert and not only to be eaten as raw and so can be
fully utilized.
Keywords exotic, forgotten fruit, sensory attribute, acceptability

INTRODUCTION
Food is the basic necessity for all of living creature and they have to work hard to get this. It is thethird most important thing for living beings to live after air and water. This shows the importanceof food for life. Food can be taken through the three meals a day. Three meals a day is important tokeep the body running so that daily functions can be managed properly. A meal is composed of riceor carbohydrate-rich food, soup, vegetable, main dish, salad, and dessert. This meal composition
can vary depending on the choice of the diner, but usually a meal is ended with a dessert.
The tradition of eating a dessert after having a meal is being followed by many cultures acrossthe globe. This delectable dish served at the end of a dinner signifies completion of the meal andcreates a sense of goodness within a person. Apart from the cultural importance and the feel-goodfactor, a dessert can also offer a variety of health benefits. A healthy dessert aids in digestion, adds
extra vitamins and fiber to ones diet, boosts immunity, reduces blood pressure, balances hormonesin the body, lowers the levels of bad cholesterol, improves good cholesterol, and acts as an antidepressant (Benavides, 2016).
According to the dictionary, dessert is a confectionery course that concludes a main meal. It is
usually consists of sweet foods, and possibly a beverage such as dessert wine or liqueur, but may
include coffee, cheese nuts, or other savory items. The term dessert can apply to many confections
such as cakes, tarts, cookies, biscuits, gelatins, pastries, ice creams, pies, puddings, custards andⒸ ISERD

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sweet soups. Fruit is also commonly found in dessert courses because of its naturally occurring
sweetness. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly savory to create desserts.
In this study, the researcher ventured to produce four kinds of desserts using Atis or Annonasquamosa Linn as an ingredient in producing them. Atis is used to promote the fruit which is one
among the top ten exotic or tropical fruit in the Philippines but is also among the forgotten fruits inthis country, forgotten because atis is one among the fruits which is only produced on backyard
scale and thus have limited and declining supply (Dy, 2016).
Atis fruit is from a small tree 3 to 5 meters in height with leaves which are somewhat hairy
when young, oblong, 8 to 15 centimeters long, with a petiole 1 to 5 centimeters long. Its fruit islarge, somewhat heart-shaped, 6 to 9 centimeters long, the outside marked with knobby polygonal
tubercles. When ripe the fruit is light yellowish-green. Flesh is white, sweet, soft, and juicy, with amild and very agreeable flavor. It is nutritious because it is rich in Vitamin C, manganese, B
Vitamins, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium in fair quantities (Stuart, 2016).
This study ventured to produce Atis Calamay, Atis Butter Scotch, Atis Fried Dessert, and Atis
Boat Tart. Calamay is a sweet concoction of ground sticky rice, sugar, coconut milk, vanilla andsome peanuts (optional). It is sealed in smooth coconut shells that are sealed shut by acharacteristic band of red tape. Butter Scotch, on the other hand, is a type of confectionery whose
primary ingredients are brown sugar and butter, but other ingredients are part of some recipes, suchas corn syrup, cream, vanilla and salt. The earliest known recipes, in mid-19th century Yorkshire,
used treacle (molasses) in place of or in addition to sugar. The Fried Dessert in this study is a
modified doughnut, modified because it is with blended Atis pulp filling. According to Webster
dictionary doughnut is a small fried cake of sweetened dough, typically in the shape of a ball or
ring. Meanwhile a tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top notcovered with pastry. The pastry is usually short crust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury,
though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with custard. A boat tart is a tart with acrust of a shape of a small boat.
OBJECTIVESThis study was conducted to produce four types of dessert such as Atis Calamay, Atis Butter
Scotch, Atis Fried Dessert, and Atis Boat Tart utilizing atis as ingredient, and determine theacceptability of the four desserts in five sensory attributes such as appearance, taste, odor, texture
and overall liking. It further aimed to determine the shelf life and the marketability of the products.
METHODOLOGYThis study is experimental, producing desserts with atis as ingredients. The finished products were
tasted by 100 participants who are food experts to judge the products using the four point Hedonic
scale. To ensure the reliability of the result in judging the taste of the products, the participants
were blindfolded because the appearance of the product can insinuate the judgment of the taste.
After tasting one product, the participants were asked to drink water before tasting another productto remove the taste of the next product. The rest of the sensory attributes were done removing theblind fold of the participants. The participants were asked to rate the products using the following
rating scale 4- Very Acceptable, 3- Acceptable, 2 - Less Acceptable and 1 - Not Acceptable as thelowest. For purposes of interpretation, the following range were used; 3.25 - 4.00 - Very
Acceptable, 2.50 - 3.24 - Acceptable, 1.75 - 2.49 - Less Acceptable and 1.00 - 1.74 - Not
Acceptable.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The researcher was able to produce the products by using the following recipes.

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Atis Calamay
In preparing Atis Calamay, the following ingredients were used; 1 kilograms blended Atis pulp, 3cups glutinous rice flour, 4 cans(400 ml each) coconut milk, 2 cans coconut milk for curd (latik), 3
cups brown sugar, 1 table spoon pandan or vanilla extract. This is prepared by following theprocedure; Blend the Atis pulp until fine, set aside. Then prepare a pan, pour coconut milk thencook in a low heat. Keep stirring until it curdles. Set aside. In a large pan, combine the blended atis
pulp, sweet rice flour, coconut milk, sugar and vanilla then cook in a low heat. Keep stirring until
thicken. Prepare the cleaned coconut shell, fill it with the mixture, sprinkle with coconut curd andseal the coconut shell with a red tape. Have it ready to serve.
Atis Butter Scotch
In preparing the Atis Butter Scotch the following ingredients were used; 1/2 cup granulated sugar,
1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter or stick margarine, softened, 2 large egg whites, 1
teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon
salt, Cooking spray, 1/2 cup blended Atis pulp. The procedure in preparing the Atis Butter Scotch
are as follows: Preheat oven to 350 °C. Beat sugars and butter at medium speed of a mixer until
well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add egg whites, atis pulp and vanilla; beat well. Lightly spoon theflour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir
well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; beat at low speed just until blended. Spreadbatter evenly into an 8-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly withmorsels. Bake at 350°C for 28 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool in pan on a wire rack. Slice into squares then wrap in colored water cellophane.
Atis Fried Dessert (Doughnut)
In this product, two subproducts were prepared; first was for the filling and the second was for the
dough. For Atis filling, the following ingredients were used: ½ cup blended Atis pulp, ¼ cup
refined sugar, ¼ cup water, 1/8 teaspoon vanilla. The Atis Filling was prepared with the following
procedure followed; Mix all ingredients into a bowl and place in sauce pan. Cook under low fire
until thickened. Remove from fire and let it cool ready for filling the dough. The ingredients for
Atis Fried Dessert Dough are as follows; 4 cups bread flour, 1/3 cup refined sugar, ½ cup
margarine, 3 pcs. Eggyolk, 1 ½ teaspoon salt, 1 ½ cup water, 5 teaspoon yeast, ¼ cup lukewarm
water for yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar for yeast. The procedure in preparing Atis Fired Dessert are
the following; Dissolve yeast in ¼ cup lukewarm water. Stir. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar thencover and set aside to ferment. Sift flour, measure and set aside. Mix together in a mixing bowl
water, sugar, salt, eggyolk, margarine and foamy yeast. Add the flour into the mixture, mix
thoroughly and knead the dough until smooth and elastic and have it rest for 20 minutes. Punch therested dough, divide and weigh the dough into portion size. Flatten the dough with a rolling pin, fillwith Atis filling then roll to close the ends, its shape is like that of a dough nut. Allow to rest for 30
minutes. Fry the dough in hot oil until golden brown. When done roll into refined sugar then have it
ready to serve.
Atis Boat Tart
In preparing Atis Boat Tart, just like the doughnut two sub products were prepared the filling andthe crust. For the filling the following ingredients were also used; 1 cup Atis pulp, ½ cup refinedsugar, ½ cup cornstarch, ½ cup evaporated milk, 1 cup water, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. These
ingredients were mixed together and cooked in sauce pan under low fire, stirred constantly until
thickened. Then set aside for the crust. After the filling the next to be prepared is the crust which
needed 2 cups all purpose flour, ¼ cup butter, 1 piece eggyolk, ¼ cup water, 2 tablespoon refinedsugar and ¼ teaspoon salt. The following procedure was followed; Dissolve sugar and salt in ¼ cupⒸ ISERD

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cold water, then add eggyolk. Cut-in flour and margarine using pastry blender until pea size.
Gradually sprinkle cold water solution over it and continue cutting-in. Knead, divide the dough andplace in greased boat tart molder. Place the previously prepared filling and bake in a pre-heatedoven for 30minutes or until brown. Allow it to cool, when cold, wrap it in colored water cellophane.
In the preparation of the four desserts of Atis, the common tools, utensils and equipment usedwere measuring cup, measuring spoon, wooden ladle, mixing bowls, sauce pan, rubber scraper,
stove; boat tart molder and pastry blender (specific for boat tart), oven for butter scotch and boat
tart.
Table 1 Acceptability of the products in five sensory attributes
Sensory attributes
Appearance
Taste
Odor
TextureOverall Liking
Composite Mean
Rank

T1

T2

T3

T4

3.48
3.57
3.70
3.45
3.48
3.54
4

3.64
3.68
3.72
3.75
3.60
3.68
2

3.52
3.76
3.50
3.84
3.54
3.63
3

3.75
3.82
3.68
3.82
3.70
3.75
1

Composite
mean
3.48
3.69
3.65
3.65
3.58
3.60

Description

Rank

VA
VA
VA
VA
VA
VA

5
1
2.5
2.5
4

Legend: T1 - Atis Calamay T2 - Atis Butter Scotch T3 - Atis Fried Dessert T4 - Atis Boat Tart

Table 1 shows the acceptability levels of the four atis desserts in five sensory attributes suchas appearance, taste, odor, texture and overall liking. It clearly manifests that the four products
were rated Very Acceptable in all the five sensory attributes or in appearance, taste, odor, texture
and overall liking but they differed in the numerical rating or the mean. In terms of Appearance,
Atis Boat Tart ranked first with weighted mean 3.75, it was followed by Atis Butter Scotch, 3.64,
Atis Fried Dessert and Atis Calamay followed with a weighted mean of 3.52 and 3.48 respectively.
Boat Tart took a lead in taste and overall Liking whose weighted means are 3.82 and 3.70
respectively. On the other hand, Atis Butter Scotch emerged as number 1 in odor while Atis Fried
Dessert ranked first in texture. Atis Fried Dessert ranked first in texture because it has very soft
texture and Atis Boat Tart ranked next to Atis Fried Dessert. The flakiness, crunchiness and thetenderness of the crust of the tart were very evident in the product. These are the qualities of a goodtart crust. Butter Scotch ranked first in Odor because of the nice blend of the smell of theingredients.
Meanwhile, the overall rating of the product with reference to the composite mean of fivesensory attributes of the product, Atis Boat Tart ranked first with the composite mean of 3.75
followed by Atis Butter Scotch (3.68), Atis Fried Dessert (3.63) and Atis Calamay as the last with
3.54 as the composite mean.
When comes to the five sensory attributes, the composite mean of taste of the four products
was 3.69 so taste ranked first. Odor and texture of the four products got a tie with a composite
mean of 3.65, while fourth is the overall liking (3.58) and the last is the appearance with 3.48 as thecomposite mean.
Table 2 Shelf life of Atis desserts
Products
T1 - Atis Kalamay
T2 - Atis Butter Scotch
T3 - Atis Fried Dessert
T4 - Atis Boat Tart

1

2

3

4

5

6

No. of Days
7
8
9 10

11

12

13

14

15

/

/

/

/

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

x

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

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Table 3 discloses the shelf life of the four Atis Desserts. In knowing the shelf life of the
products, the products were observed daily while placed at room temperature. It shows that both
Atis Butter Scotch and Atis Boat Tart lasted for 15 days. On the sixteenth day, the crust of the Atis
Boat Tart started to soften, the Atis Butter Scotch also softened on the sixteenth day. Among the
products, Atis Calamay was the first to spoil. On the fifth day molds were found on the product. It
can be deduced that method of preparing the product is a factor that affect shelf life. Atis Butter
Scotch and Boat Tart were both baked, Calamay was boiled until a thick consistency was reachedwhile Fried Dessert as the name suggested, was fried. Baking can lessen the amount of moisture in
the product, thus making the product last longer.
Marketability
In terms of marketability all the four products were marketable. The products were displayed in theschool cafeteria of two nearby high schools in the City of Tagbilaran City, Bohol and also in theuniversity cafeteria of Bohol Island State University. It was found out that the products were soldout in the first three days of the week in one month of display. Atis Fried Dessert was saleable
while hot, Calamay, Butter Scotch, and Boat Tart on the other hand were not only eaten as snacki em in he cafe e ia b
e e bo gh a a pa al bong fo lo ed one a home. I can be ded cedthat these Atis Desserts were all marketable.
CONCLUSION
Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the Atis dessert are all acceptable. These can be agood pa of one meal. The e p od c can be a o ce of income of he people inalcommunity because the ingredients are available in the locality, the tools and utensils are present inones kitchen and the procedure of preparing the products are easy to follow. Although Atis Butter
Scotch and Boat Tart used oven, these products can be baked in a clay oven which are
manufactured in local community, thus it is still very much feasible for the rural community to
produce these products.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that Atis products be introduced to the rural community through the extension
function of the university so that these can be used by them as another source of income. The
university may conduct training about the preparation of these products from Atis so that they will
be encouraged to produce and sell their products. Farmers should also be informed about theutilization of Atis as Desserts so that they will be motivated to plant more Atis trees in larger scalethus promoting the use of Atis and thereby excluding this fruit from the list of promising but
forgotten fruits.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The researcher would like to express her thanks to the administration of Bohol Island State
University for the support given to her while conducting her study. She would like to thank the
personnel of the cafeteria of BISU for allowing her to conduct the study there. Her thanks andgratitude would also be for Mrs. Rosal M. Apatay for helping her in facilitating the display of the
products in the school where she (Mrs. Apatay) is teaching and in other school cafeteria formarketability test.

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Dy, R. 2016. Forgotten but promising fruits. http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Opinion&title=forgotten-but-promising-fruits&id=126524 (retrieved on October 12, 2017).
Manila Girl. 2009. Top 10 Exotic and tropical fruits in the Philippines. http://top10philippines.blogspot.
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Market Man. 2005. Calamay from Bohol. http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/calamay-from-bohol(retrieved on June 20, 2017).
Only Foods. 2016. Sugar apple. http://www.onlyfoods.net/sugar-apple.html (retrieved on July 28, 2017).
Ranga, N. 2011. Importance of food-in life & health. https://www.studyread.com/importance-of-food(retrieved on August 20, 2017).
Stuart, G. 2016. Atis, Annona squamosa linn sugar apple. http://www.stuartxchange.org/Atis.html (retrievedon September 22, 2017).

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