Physico-chemical, textural and sensory evaluation of sponge cake supplemented with pumpkin flour

The pumpkins slices were dried in an infrared-hot air dryer (238 W, 65°C and 2 m/s flow rate) and dried samples were milled and passed through a 125 mesh sieve and used in sponge cake formulation. In this study, the physico-chemical, textural and sensory properties of sponge cake supplemented with five different levels of pumpkin powder (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20%) were evaluated. The β-carotene content of cake increased from 6.84 to 9.78 mgr/100gr with increasing pumpkin powder levels from 0 to 20%. Increasing the level of substitution from 0 to 20% pumpkin powder decreased the volume of cakes from 68.26 to 51.35 cm3. The density, ash, β-carotene and protein of baked cakes increased with increasing pumpkin powder levels, whereas the moisture content and volume of samples showed a reverse trend. Sensory evaluation results indicated that cake with 10% pumpkin powder was rated the most acceptable. The hardness, cohesiveness, gumminess and chewiness values were in the range of 603.79-864.54 g, 0.58-0.66, 359.87-521.16 g and 328.36-475.65 g, respectively. The sponge cake with 10% pumpkin exhibited a color, with L·, a· and b· equal to 81.37, 312 and 70.91, respectively.