National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)
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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
Pumpkin (Cucurbita spp.) is an important horticultural crop widely cultivated and consumed in the Jammu region owing to its rich carotenoid profile, nutritional value and potential health-promoting properties. Nevertheless, its high moisture content renders the commodity highly perishable, thereby contributing to substantial post-harvest losses and limiting its storage stability. Drying represents an effective preservation and value-addition strategy; however, the application of different drying conditions can induce considerable alterations in the structural, physical and nutritional attributes of the resulting product. Therefore, the present investigation was undertaken at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Jammu, to evaluate the influence of different drying techniques on the physical characteristics and proximate composition of pumpkin powder. Freshly harvested pumpkins procured from local markets of Jammu were processed into whole (unpeeled) samples and individual components, viz., peel, pulp and seeds. The samples were subjected to three drying treatments: conventional hot-air oven drying at 80 °C, rapid hot-air drying at 80 °C, and freeze drying at −110 °C. The dried materials were subsequently milled and sieved to obtain relatively uniform particle sizes of approximately 250 and 710 µm. The results demonstrated that drying technique exerted a significant influence (p < 0.05) on the physicochemical and nutritional characteristics of pumpkin powders. Among the evaluated treatments, rapid hot-air drying exhibited comparatively superior performance, yielding powders with desirable moisture content (6.42–7.92%), particle size (246.90–362.26 µm), and bulk density (426.42–610.21 kg m⁻³). These characteristics were comparatively more favourable than those observed in freeze-dried powders. Proximate analysis further indicated that rapid hot-air drying facilitated better retention of key nutritional constituents, with protein and fat contents ranging from 10.86–41.94% and 4.88–44.93%, respectively, and demonstrated comparatively improved nutritional retention over conventional oven drying. Overall, rapid hot-air drying emerged as an efficient and promising dehydration technique for the production of nutritionally enriched and physically stable pumpkin powder under the agro-climatic conditions of Jammu. The findings highlight its potential for extending shelf life, minimizing post-harvest losses, and facilitating the value addition and utilization of pumpkin and its component fractions.
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