Comparative evaluation of physico-chemical attributes of different portions of C. moschata and C. maxima species of pumpkin

Abstract

Present study was conducted to evaluate the various physico-chemical attributes of different portion of ripe pumpkin. Ripe pumpkin comes under the category of underutilized fruits and is cultivated all over the World. Ripe pumpkin also called as lal kaddu in India is considered as good source of phyto-chemicals such as carotenoids, vitamins and minerals. For analysis of quality attributes of different portions (flesh, brains/fluffy portion and peel) of ripe fruits, two species of pumpkin viz. C. moschata Duchesne ex Poiret and C. maxima Duchesne were selected. Among different species of pumpkin, highest ascorbic acid and titratable acidity were found in flesh portion of C. maxima and minimum titratable acidity, ascorbic acid and beta carotene were obtained in peel portion of C. moschata. Brains/fluffy portion of C. maxima species was found with highest amount of beta carotene and total fiber among all portions of both the species. However, peel portion of C. maxima showed highest values for total soluble solids, total phenols and fiber among all portions of both species of ripe pumpkin. Thus, ripe pumpkin of C. maxima species was found with better quality attributes in comparison of C. moschata.