A survey was conducted by administering a structured questionnaire. Respondents were sampled randomly and purposively based on respondents’ knowledge on the topic in Takoradi Technical University, Takoradi, Ghana, specifically Department of Hospitality Management. Respondent included students, lecturers and supporting staff using [13] sample size determination table as seen in Table 1; a population of 140, the sample size to use is 103, hence 103 respondents were used.

The questionnaire comprised of multiple choice, ranking and dichotomous questions and was pretested before administering. The pretesting of the questionnaire was conducted with five (5) respondents, and the necessary modification were made before the final administration. The questionnaire was self-administered and designed to evaluate consumer preference and quality expectation of “shito” in general as a bases for developing oyster mushroom black hot pepper sauce “shito”.

Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. Graphical representations were done by Microsoft Excel.

Table 2 presents the gender of respondent. The gender distribution was skewed toward females (85%) and (15%) being males. This could be due to the fact that, respondents involved in the study were from the Department of Hospitality Management which is a female dominated Department because of the program being offered.

According to Table 3, majority of the respondents were 40 years and below. This gives an indication that significant number of respondents were in their youthful age.

Table 4 presents the marital status of respondents, majority (74%) were single whiles (1%) was a widow and the rest married. This can be attributed to the fact that the most respondents were students.

In relation to the status (rank) of respondents, majority (82%) were student as they form the highest population of the university, (15%) were teaching staff whiles the remaining represent the non-teaching staff as shown in Table 5.

In terms of ingredient preferences, respondents were asked to rank the importance of some ingredients needed in their black hot pepper sauce, as shown in (Table 6). Majority (94%) of respondents ranked onion (4.94) as the most important ingredient needed in their black hot pepper sauce, followed by oil (4.86) which is also most important. This means that onion is consumed all over the world due to their distinct flavor [14]. Powdered pepper, mixed spices, and ginger were the next most popular ingredients, with mean values of (4.61, 4.51, and 4.50) for each, which respondents felt to be highly significant. This could be due to the fact that, in addition to their flavor-enhancing and spicy properties, these substances have an antimicrobial effect on food [15]. Tomato puree, with a mean

Scale: 1 - 1.49 = NVI (Not very Important), 1.5 - 2.49 = NP (Not Preferred), 2.5 - 3.49 = N (Neither important or not important), 3.5 - 4.49 = IM (Important), 4.5 - 5 = VI (Very Important).

value of (3.98), is the least recommended ingredient. Anecdotal information suggests that omitting tomato puree from black hot pepper sauce preparation has little influence on the final result.

Sensory quality of food is an important factor that consumers consider when deciding whether or not to eat. Spiciness, mouth feel, tastiness, and aftertaste were all considered when determining the sensory quality expectation of black hot pepper sauce. From Figure 1, the results show that, respondents prefer their black hot pepper sauce to have sweet aftertaste with the mean value of (4.18), neither tasty nor very tasty (3.17) for taste, either spicy or not spicy (3.11) for spiciness and the least expectation was mouthfeel which was neither smooth nor rough (2.93)

When respondents were asked to indicate their willingness to patronize black hot pepper sauce prepared from oyster mushroom; it was seen from (Figure 2) that, a greater percentage (81%) of respondents would like black hot pepper sauce made from oyster mushrooms. The results indicate that, black hot pepper sauce made from mushrooms would be patronized when produced in commercial quantities. The results from this study is in line with [16] research which found that consumers preferred black hot pepper sauce made from soybean much more than that made from shrimp powder. In another study by [17], consumers preferred shito made from snail powder to that made from shrimp powder. The inference from these findings is that, consumers are willing to try different varieties of black hot pepper sauce on the market provided the taste meets their expectations.

Table 7 indicates the responses of factor that affects respondents’ patronage of oyster mushroom black hot pepper sauce. It can be seen that, taste, appearance,

texture, aroma, packaging, colour and spiciness with the representation of (71%, 65%, 53%, 53%, 51%, 51%, 49%, 41%) respectively are all very important in factors affecting respondents’ patronage. Price and drying method used for mushrooms are also considered important with the percentage of (39% and 34%) respectively. The result gives an indication that, all the factors used are of much importance to customers with it having varying percentages in its representation. This as opined by [18], explains the culinary attributes of Oyster mushroom in the preparation of different dishes. Accordingly, they can be additionally accessed in dried structures, taste very great and have an exceptionally serious substantial flavor. This attributes can be used to generalize the views of respondents in this study.

NVI = Not very Important, NI = Not Important, N = Neither important or Not Important, IM = Important, VI = Very Important.

The result from Figure 3 shows respondents preferred oil to be used in their black hot pepper sauce preparation. It can be seen that more than half (54%) preferred sunflower oil, followed by olive oil and coconut oil (23% and 21%) respectively. The least preferred oil was canola oil (2%). It can be concluded that, sunflower oil was the oil mostly preferred by consumers for the preparation of respondents’ oyster mushrooms black hot pepper sauce. The role of oil in frying process is to develop the flavor, texture and aroma acceptability in fried products [19].

Figure 4 shows the results of the state of oil respondent want to be used in the preparation of their oyster mushroom black hot pepper sauce and overwhelmingly (96%) stated they want fresh oil to be used for their sauce. The state of an oil in the preparation of black pepper sauce is very important to many shito lovers in Ghana. This is because the oil has the tendency of affecting the flavor, colour and safety of the end product. As stated by [20] in their study, oxidation and hydrolysis reaction occurs during frying or cooking processes which by-products such as alcohols, cyclic compound, polymers, dimers and free fatty acids are produced and have adverse impact on human health. The usage of over degraded oil containing hazardous secondary oxidative products and ingestion of altered frying oil has amplified in many food chains worldwide [21]. This has prompted consumers to be very particular on the type of food they are consuming into their bodies.