ABSTRACT

Cakes are baked deserts usually made from a good number of ingredients such as flour, sugar, shortening, baking powder, egg, flavourings, nuts, chocolate and dried fruits. This study tends to evaluate customer acceptability of cakes produced with natural sweetener by replacing sugar (sucrose) with natural sweeteners (dates and honey). Four research objectives guided the study. The study used an experimental research design. The raw materials were obtained from Orie Ugba market in Umuahia North L.G.A., Abia State, and Department of Forestry, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. The date juice was processed, and cakes were produced by conventional methods. The sensory evaluation were done with 30 panelist using a 9-point hedonic scale to assess the taste, colour, texture, aroma, and appearance. In the bakery industry in Nigeria, changing consumer buying patterns greatly influence the types and nature of cakes produced by the bakers. As consumers are becoming more health conscious, bakers are forced to adjust or customized their products based on the specifications of the customers as they are concerned about the nutritional value of the cakes. Other factors forcing the bakery to adjust includes taste, quality, texture, colour, appearance, and freshness. This study tends to evaluate customer acceptability of cakes produced with natural sweetener by replacing sugar (sucrose) with natural sweeteners (dates and honey). The findings show that Cake produced with sugar had a very high acceptability level in terms of taste (8.33 > 4.50), colour (7.87 > 4.50), texture (7.93 > 4.50), aroma (7.17 > 4.50), and appearance (7.90 > 4.50); cake produced with honey had a high acceptability level in terms of taste (6.67 > 4.50), colour (6.83 > 4.50), texture (7.27 > 4.50), aroma (6.40 > 4.50), and appearance (6.73 > 4.50), but slightly below that of sugar; cake produced with dates had a moderately high acceptability rate in terms of taste (6.97 > 4.50), colour (6.67 > 4.50), texture (6.40 > 4.50), aroma (6.93 > 4.50), and appearance (6.57 > 4.50);and cake produced with dates and honey had a moderately acceptability rate in terms of taste (6.87 > 4.50), colour (6.90 > 4.50), texture (6.53 > 4.50), aroma (6.63 > 4.50), and appearance (6.70 > 4.50). The study therefore concluded that the cakes from different sweeteners were acceptable by the customers. It is also recommended that cakes with natural sweeteners should be introduced because it is nutritious and good for human consumption especially for health-conscious customers.