Nutritional Evaluation of Fermented, Germinated and Roasted Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) Seed Flour

Abstract

Freshly harvested pumpkin seed was processed into flour namely; raw (RPSF), fermented (FPSF), germinated (GPSF) and roasted (ROPSF). Various pumpkin seed flour obtained were investigated for nutritional properties using standard methods. Protein was higher in the fermented flour (35.85%) while the roasted flour (46.31%) possessed the highest fat content. Results obtained from processed pumpkin seed flour further revealed that glutamic acid (10.45-13.02 g/100g) and linoleic acid (134.72-419.70 µg/ml) were the most abundant amino acid and fatty acid, respectively. Processed pumpkin seed flour contained appreciable amount of minerals and demonstrated very good functional properties. It can be concluded that subjecting pumpkin seed to various processing methods enhanced its nutritional properties and may find application in food industry.

Keywords

• pumpkin seed
• fermentation
• germination
• roasting
• nutritional evaluation