There’s an emerging livelihood venture in Ilocandia.
It’s the making of cookies and polvoron (food powder-based delicacy) produced out of powdered milkfish bones and spines.
This income-generating activity is an offshoot of the lucrative milkfish deboning industry in Pangasinan, the seat of bangus production in the Ilocos Region.
Two studies done by researchers of the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University (DMMMSU)-Institute of Fisheries in Sto. Tomas, La Union, have attested to the viability of making polvoron and cookies out milkfish bones.
(The making of polvoron out of bangus bones was pioneered in 2000 by Dean Laurentina Calmorin of the Northern Iloilo Polytechnic State College in Estancia, Iloilo.)
One of the DMMMSU studies, done by Dr. Aurora F. Afalla, extension facilitator, was titled “Formulation and Acceptability of Calcium-Enriched Polvoron.”
The other, “Formulation and Acceptability of Cookies from Bangus Bones,” was conducted by Dr. Afalla, Prof. Pemy Lachica, and Prof. Cirila Domenden.
The milkfish bones used in the study were sourced from Dagupan City, Pangasinan.
Both researches were monitored by the Los Baños-based Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development (DOST-PCAMRD).
In the study on bangus bone-polvoron, four formulations (bone: powder combinations) flavored with pinipig (puffed rice) and peanut were made.
The most acceptable formulation was noted in the polvoron with 20 percent bangus bone powder: 80 percent flour flavored with pinipig.
A bangus bone-polvoron packed in plastic bags could last for 35 days when kept under ambient or refrigerated condition.
Dr. Dolly Fernandez of PCAMRD reported that with an investment of P7,881.35, about 3,420 pieces of polvoron priced at P3 per piece can be produced. The products can sell for P9,980 and give a profit of P1,998.65.
The formulated bangus bone cookies were also “very well liked” by the trained panelists.
Dr. Fernandez reported: “Using 1 kg fish bone meal and 5 kg flour with other ingredients, 250 packs of cookies can be produced in a day with an investment of P2,248. A pack can sell at P15 each. With a gross sale of P3,705, a profit of P1,502 for a one-day operation involving three workers can be achieved.” – Rudy A. Fernandez