The UPLB – College of Agriculture and Food Science (CAFS), and College of Forestry and Natural Resources and (CFNR) set out to investigate Region IV-A’s (CALABARZON) indigenous fruit trees and explore their natural culinary potential. The five indigenous CALABARZON fruit trees under the spotlight are ‘binayuyo’ (Antidesma ghaesembilla), ‘bitongol’ (Flacourtia rukam), ‘tibig’ (Ficus nota), ‘libas’(Spondias pinnata), and ‘kalumpit’ (Terminalia microcarpa), also known as Batangas cherry.
The project explored the most effective processes to optimize the indigenous fruits’ colorant and flavoring properties with various drying methods, not to mention an ice cream flavor that highly resembles the taste of a frozen yogurt. In addition to the five, the project team also examined other sour and color-rich CALABARZON fruits namely ‘katmon’ (Dillenia philippinensis), ‘lipote’ (Syzygium polycephaloides), and ‘baligang’ (Syzygium garciae) for this phase of the project.
In support of the biodiversity management and conservation efforts of the Niche R&D Center for Biodiversity, the Cebu Technological University (CTU) led the project to assess, profile, and propagate economically important species in selected KBAs of Cebu. The project explored the potential of terrestrial snails as an alternative food source to strengthen food security. The project further assessed baseline information on the suitability of land snail farming in Cebu, which will allow the propagation of economically important snail species and increase its population for conservation. The endemic and edible ‘takyong’ (Helicostyla daphnis) is one species of land snail that was developed into different food products such as tomato sauce, sisig, protein bars, cookies, meat loaf, ramen, and spread.
