Development of Energy Bar Incorporated with Pumpkin Seeds and Powder

Cucurbita pepo, are rich in vitamins, pantothenic acid, folate, antioxidants, carbohydrates, dietary fiber and minerals such as calcium, iron, potassium, sodium and zinc. The current work is an attempt to add pumpkin seeds and its powder to energy bars, in order to enhance its nutritional value. The methodology involved addition of chopped dates 60 g, 50 g and 40 g in Energy bars viz. T1, T2 and T3 respectively, crushed groundnuts 10 g each, jaggery 20 g each in T1, T2 and T3 along with pumpkin seeds (5 g, 10 g and 15 g) and pumpkin powder (5 g, 10 g and 15 g) in Energy Bars viz. T1, T2 and T3 respectively and the components were mixed well unless a moist consistency was obtained. After storing in refrigerator for one hour, the resulting products i.e. T1, T2 and T3 was checked for Colour, Flavour, Texture, Taste and Overall Acceptability which were scored on 5-point scale. The product was found to have a good acceptability and was followed by checking the nutritional value of the bar. Results revealed that incorporation of pumpkin powder and pumpkin seeds at different level of incorporation (5 g, 10 g and 15 g) in T1, T2 and T3 bars respectively shows an increase in nutritional value viz. Energy, Protein, Carbohydrate, Fat, Fibre and Vitamin A. Overall, a stable product was obtained and a novel idea of amalgamating components from pumpkin was developed.