Author(s)

Hassan Barakat^1,2*, Mohamed F. Y. Hassan^2,3

¹Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Benha, Egypt.
²Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Qassim University, Buraidah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
³Department of Dairy Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt.

Pumpkin contains considerable amounts of bioactive compounds which hardly valorized in dairy products. This study aims to investigate the chemical, nutritional, rheological, and organoleptical properties of prepared stirred pumpkin-yoghurt. Stirred yoghurt with three different pumpkin varieties pulp [American (AP), Domestic (DP), and Indian (IP) pumpkin] at 15% was prepared and stored at 5°C ± 1°C up to 14 d. The chemical properties of yoghurts include protein, fat, crude fiber, and available carbohydrates were significantly affected by adding pumpkin without remarkable change in caloric value. Addition of pumpkin pulps decreased the pH and increased the acidity of stirred pumpkin-yoghurt significantly (P < 0.05). WHC of pumpkin-yoghurts was found to be statistically improved compared to control yoghurt (CY). L*, a*, b* means were differed significantly by adding pumpkin to yoghurt. Apparent viscosity was increased after manufacturing up to 14 d. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were counted from 8.59 to 8.73 CFU mL^-1 in all stirred yoghurts after 1 d. After that, it was increased without notable effect of adding pumpkin pulps, and with slight simulation in LAB, growth was noticed in DP and IP yoghurts. Total phenolic compounds (TPC), total flavonoid (TF), total flavonols (TFL), carotenoids contents, and antioxidant capacity of pumpkin-yoghurts were significantly increased. Fortifying yoghurt with pumpkin pulp was associated with a statistically significant effect on sensory parameters such as flavor, color, and overall acceptability. Scores of AP yoghurt showed the highest score which significantly differed from CY. It is obviously showed that panelists were favored the prepared stirred pumpkin-yoghurt. Thus, it is recommended that adding pumpkin pulps increases yoghurt health benefits and could be scaled up further.

Pumpkin, Stirred Yoghurt, Fortification, Bioactive Compounds, Quality, Consumer Acceptability

Barakat, H. and Y. Hassan, M. (2017) Chemical, Nutritional, Rheological, and Organoleptical Characterizations of Stirred Pumpkin-Yoghurt. Food and Nutrition Sciences, 8, 746-759. doi: 10.4236/fns.2017.87053.