Effects of roasting and fermentation on the chemical composition of pumpkin seed flour, and the quality of cassava based chin chin supplemented with the treated pumpkin seed flours

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of roasting and fermentation on the chemical composition of pumpkin seed flour, and the quality of cassava-based chin chin supplemented with the treated pumpkin seed flours. Pumpkin seeds were separated from the pulp, washed, and divided into three groups. Group A (raw) was the control, group B was roasted at 140ᵒC for 40 min, and group C was boiled in water for 1 h, fermented for 72 h in blanched banana leaves and dried in an oven at 50ᵒC. The seeds were processed into flours, analyzed for the chemical composition, and then used with cassava flour in different proportions to produce chin chin. From the results of the chemical composition, it was observed that the moisture (13.71-3.96%) and protein (61.34-58.19%) contents reduced, while the ash (1.61-6.43%), fat (8.10-9.85%), fiber (4.89-6.07%) and carbohydrate (10.35-15.50%) contents improved following roasting of the seeds. On the contrarily, fermentation decreased the moisture (13.71-7.67%), fat (8.10-7.50%), fiber (4.89-4.10%), and carbohydrate (10.35-9.66%) contents, and increased the ash (1.61-3.59%) and protein (61.34-67.48%) contents of the samples. Also, the phytate (0.26mg/100g) and tannin (0.84mg/100g) contents of the fermented samples, as well as the oxalate (5.90mg/100g) and saponin (0.11mg/100g) contents of the roasted samples reduced. This finding indicated that roasting and fermentation had distinct effect on the antinutrients present in a sample. In addition, the sensory evaluation results showed that chin chin of good acceptability could be produced from cassava flour with up to 30% addition of pumpkin seed flour.