Pumpkin powder (Cucurbita maxima)-supplemented string hoppers as a functional food

Abstract

Background: Pumpkin has frequently been used as a functional food due to its nutritional and health benefits. In this study, a new application of dried pumpkin powder in string hoppers production is shown. Aim: The main aim of this work is to evaluate the addition of the dried pumpkin powder into rice flour on the physical, functional, nutritional, and sensory properties of string hoppers. Materials and Methodology: String hoppers were prepared using white rice flour, which was substituted at 0%, 10%, 15%, and 20% with pumpkin pulp powder. Sensory evaluation was conducted to select best accepted combination. Nutrition analysis was carried out for the best accepted product. Results: On sensory evaluation, 20% pumpkin pulp powder-incorporated string hoppers received the highest scores for appearance (8.06), color (7.93), aroma (8.02), taste (7.80), texture (7.93), and overall acceptability (8.13). This was selected as the best accepted pumpkin-incorporated string hoppers. The nutrient composition of 20% pumpkin pulp powder-incorporated string hoppers and control was moisture (47.79, 51.38%), ash (1.22, 0.059%), protein (6.12, 3.68%), and crude fiber (0.72, 0.29%), and significant increase of nutrients was observed in pumpkin pulp powder-incorporated string hoppers compared to control. Beta carotene content of the accepted string hoppers increased significantly (2.54 mg/100 g). Significant increase in potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus content was also observed (227.2 mg, 16.44 mg, 19.83 mg, and 18.83 mg/100 g, respectively). Nearly 20% addition of pumpkin pulp powder increased the antioxidant activity significantly (0.056 mmol/ascorbic acid equivalents/100 g). Conclusion: Pumpkin pulp powder can be successfully supplemented into the traditional string hoppers and used as a functional food with its improved nutritional composition.