Abstract:
Pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of essential nutrients. The pumpkin
seeds are generally thrown away after the flesh is consumed. By creating
value-added products like herbal tea blends, pumpkin seed consumption can
be increased. The Cucurbita maxima variety of pumpkin was chosen for this
study because it is commonly grown in Sri Lanka. The samples were
collected from the open market in the Gampaha district. The optimal time
required for drying of pumpkin seed was determined by measuring the
moisture content of the pumpkin seeds at one hour interval while dehydrating
at 70°C. The dried pumpkin seeds were made into five treatments and roasted
at 130°C, 140°C, 150°C, 160°C, and 170°C for 15 minutes. Then the roasted
pumpkin seeds were ground to form powdered pumpkin seed (PPS).
Moisture content (MC), ash content (AC), acid insoluble ash (AIA) content
and pH content of PPS samples were determined. PPS samples with tea bag
and without tea bags for brewed for 5 minutes. A sensory evaluation using
seven points hedonic scale was conducted to determine the odor, color, taste,
appearance, and overall acceptability of the brewed PPS with and without tea
bags. PPS sample roasted at 170°C resulted the lowest MC, AC and AIA
value as 1.97±0.02%, 4.24±0.35% and 0.28±0.02% respectively and highest
pH content 6.94±0.02. PPS roasted at 170°C without tea bag obtained
significantly higher scores for color, odor, taste, appearance and overall
acceptability. The findings showed that roasted powder at 170°C can be used
To make herbal tea.
