Effect of Pumpkin Powder and Malt on Physicochemical, Textural and Sensory Properties of Sponge Cake

Cakes by appropriate organoleptic characteristics are considered the most commonly used flour products all over the world. According to the role of dietary fiber on health and its ability to prevent some types of cancer and diabetes, fans of high-fiber foods is increasing. Pumpkin is a good source of carotene, water-soluble vitamins and amino acids. Pumpkin can be converted to powder with longer shelf-life. Pumpkin flour is used because of its highly-desirable flavor, sweetness and deep yellow orange –red color. In this study, kinetic modeling of pumpkin drying in an infrared-hot air dryer was investigated. Malting is a result of biochemical processes that includes steeping, germination and kilning of cereal in controlled environment in which hydrolytic enzymes are synthesized and cell wall, protein and starch of endosperm are largely digested. The aim of this study was to determine the physico-chemical, textural and sensory properties of sponge cake supplemented with four different levels (0, 10, 20 and 30 %) of pumpkin and malt powder
Fresh pumpkins (Cucurbita moschata) were obtained from local market. Slices of pumpkin with 5 mm thickness were prepared with the aid of a steel cutter and were immediately placed into the dryer. The pumpkin slices were dried in a hot air dryer (65°C). The effect of pumpkin and malt powder replacement with wheat flour on physicochemical and sensory properties of sponge cake including pH, fat, protein, moisture, ash, fiber, β-carotene, mineral, carbohydrate, texture and color were evaluated. The ingredients used in the sponge cakes formulation were cake wheat flour, sucrose, sunflower oil, fresh eggs, whey, baking powder, vanilla, water and nonfat milk powder. In this study pumpkin and malt powders at four levels of 0, 10, 20 and 30 % as wheat flour replacer were used. For each cake, 40 g of cake batter was poured into a cake pan and baked at 180-200°C for 20-25 min in an oven. Cakes were then allowed to cool for 40 min, and removed from the pans. The cooled cakes were packed in polypropylene bags at room temperature before performing physico-chemical and sensory evaluation s. Moisture content of the samples was determined in an oven at 105°C for 4 h (AOAC, method no. 934.06). For measuring β – Carotene content 1 gram of cake was dried and then crushed in 10-15 ml of acetone with the help of pestle and mortar and few crystals of anhydrous sodium sulphate were added. The supernatant was decanted into a beaker. The process was repeated twice and combined supernatant was transferred to a separating funnel, then 10-15 ml of petroleum ether was added and mixed thoroughly. Two layers separated out on standing. The lower layer was discarded and upper layer was collected in 100 ml volumetric flask. The volume was made to 100 ml with petroleum ether and optical density was recorded at 452 nm using petroleum ether as blank. The crumb color determinations of cake samples from the midsection of the cakes was measured with HP Scanner (Hp Scanjet G3110). L* (lightness/darkness that ranges from 0 to 100), a*(redness/greenness ranges from -120 to 120) and b* (yellowness/blueness ranges from -120 to 120) were measured. In this study, the image analyses of sponge cakes were performed using Image J software version 1.42e, USA. The texture analysis of sponge cake samples (2.5 × 2.5 × 2.5 cm) from the midsection of the cakes was performed using a texture analyzer (TA-XT Plus, Stable Micro Systems Ltd., Surrey, UK) and a test speed of 1.0 mm s−1. The crust of cake samples was removed in cake texture determination. The textural properties were determined using Texture Expert 1.05 software (Stable Microsystems). Each measurement was conducted in triplicate, except for the sensory evaluation (n=16). The experimental data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) for a completely random design using SPSS 19 and Excel 2010. Duncan’s multiple range tests were used to determine the difference among means at the level of 0.05.
The results showed no significant differences between treatment on fat, protein and pH. With increasing of pumpkin and malt powder in sponge cake formulation, significant difference was observed between the fiber contents of cakes. Fiber contentof all treatments was in the range of 0.28-1.13. Redness (a*) and yellowness (b*) indexes of cakes were increased but lightness (L*) index was decreased. Significant difference (P