Quality Bread as Influenced by Sweet Pumpkin Powder

Physicochemical properties of bread as influenced by the addition of sweet pumpkin powder (SPP) were investigated. Freeze-dried sweet pumpkin was ground, sieved through a laboratory sieve and a fraction with particles less than 250 μm was used. Amount of SPP added to the bread was found to affect the bread quality significantly (p＜0.05). Loaf volume and weight of the control were significantly higher than others (p＜0.05) and decreased significantly (p＜0.05) with the addition of SPP. In other words, the enrichment of product with SPP decreased bread volume and weight without significant changes in the moisture content. There were distinctive color changes with the addition of the powder: L- and a-values were reduced but b-value was significantly increased (p＜0.05). The hardness, springiness, and gumminess of bread were found to increase with the addition of the powder. Consumer test indicated that bread contained with 3% SPP had the highest overall acceptability score while 1 or 5% addition produced an acceptable quality for the bread.