Formulation of Nutraceutical Enriched Fruits and Nuts Spread

Abstract

The growing trend of healthy and nutritious food eating among consumer is expected to be a major driver for the growth of global fruits spreads market. There is an increasing demand for food products, incorporated with fruits, vegetables and nuts with no or less preservatives. The innovations in improving the flavor and nutritional value of fruits spreads are expected to boost the growth of global fruits products markets. The hard coating nature of the pumpkin and cucumber seeds made it underutilized. Keeping this in view, the present study was formulated to produce nutraceutical enriched fruits and nuts spread. The pumpkin and cucumber seed powders were blended with fruits like mango, papaya and muskmelon. The seeds are rich in nutraceutical compounds such as β carotene, tannin, flavonoids, polyphenols and antioxidant properties. The 25% of pumpkin seeds are incorporated with 75% of each fruits and 25% of cucumber seeds are incorporated with 75% of each fruits. Based on the organoleptic evaluation, the fruit spread made with seeds and mango pulp was highly acceptable. The proximate values of pumpkin seeds incorporated mango spread had 33.34% moisture, 23.62 g protein, 26.73 g fat, 5.21 g fiber and 24.32 g of carbohydrate. The mango and cucumber seeds had 33.70% moisture, 15.21 g protein, 29.18 g fat, 6.82 g fiber and 21.46 g carbohydrate.