Palapat Tart: A Healthy Dessert

Abstract
Filipinos are known for having sweet tooth. According to scientists, the human liking for sweets was a variation of a stage when food was rare. In article by Lasco (2017) which was posted at the Inquirer.Net, the Philippines was very much part of sugar’s history, being in the region where sugarcane originated, and where sugar haciendas figured greatly in its colonial economy. This heritage of sugar production hints at why Filipinos use sugar in everything: As historian John Larkin wrote, sugar manufacturers expanded the domestic market “by exciting the Filipino taste for their product” through ad campaigns and free packets of sugar. Sugar’s place as a status symbol, its sheer addictive quality, relatively cheap prices, and our being accustomed to high levels of it in our foods can thus explain why Filipinos have a sweet tooth. The Sonneratia alba, Apple Mangrove in English or known as “Palapat” to many Filipinos, is the subtlest plant of the mangrove species, which are abundant in the coastal ecosystem of Hagonoy, Bulacan,Philippines. It is often used as souring agent in many of Filipino dishes most especially Sinigang. To be able to create livelihood for the people of Bulacan, and to be able to maximize the utilization of the “Palapat” fruit, the researchers came up with the idea of creating an innovative product “Palapat Tart” which will be liked by many.This study covers the essential aspects of developing “Palapat Tart” in terms of product description, ingredients, procedure and tools and equipment needed in its preparation. Also, this will investigate the acceptability of the sensory quality of “Palapat Tart” in terms of taste, aroma, texture, and overall acceptability. The study was conducted on selected residents of Hagonoy,Bulacan and the faculty and staff of Bulacan State University – Hagonoy Campus.