THE ROMANIAN CONSUMER PERCEPTION ON THE BENINCASA HISPIDA FRUIT

Benincasa hispida, also known as winter melon or ash gourd can be considered an exotic plant on the Romanian market. Its waxy aspect and special taste are not common among the vegetables traded in our country and introducing it in the eating behaviour of population can be difficult. The paper presents the main results of a questionnaire based survey regarding the consumer perception on the smell, taste and texture of the B. hispida fruit. The fruits tested were obtained during a field research carried out in an organic experimental field from south of Romania (in the period May-October 2012). In our approach to present the links between the perceptions of consumer, medicinal proprieties of the fruit and price, we have concluded that this plant can be accepted by the Romanian consumer if the marketing strategies are concentrated on the promotion of its curative proprieties.