Assessing the sensory qualities and acceptability of commonly consumed indigenous dishes for Tourism Development in Lagos and Ogun Sate, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the sensory qualities of some commonly consumed indigenous dishes in southwest region of Nigeria. Sensory attributes (appearance, texture, taste, aroma and overall acceptability) were the quality attributes assessed and the correlation analysis of the contribution of the mean scores of the attributes to overall acceptability of the dishes were determined. The result shows the ranges of mean score of attributes with appearance (3.42 to 7.22), texture (3.44 to 7.12), taste (3.36 to 7.53), aroma (3.09 to 6.61) and overall acceptability (3.51 to 7.39). Also, the results of the correlation analysis shows that most of the attributes of the dishes are positively related to the acceptability of the dishes (p<0.01). The result (p = 0.258) (r = 0.062) showed that the dish of ewuro elegusi was rated the highest among all the sensory attributes while amuriki was rated lowest. The study showed that vegetables play an important role in the sensory qualities of indigenous dishes and most of the dishes were acceptable to the visiting tourists in the study area.