Studies on development and storage stability of dehydrated pumpkin based instant soup mix

The study was carried out to develop and standardize Instant Soup Mix (ISM) from dehydrated pumpkin powder and to evaluate nutritional (moisture, sugars, protein, ?-carotene, fat, fibre and water activity) and sensory qualities (colour, texture, flavour and overall acceptability) for determining its shelf-life during a period of six month. It was packed in aluminium laminated pouches and was analyzed periodically for changes in quality. Among various recipes optimized for the development of soup mix, soup mix containing 20g pumpkin powder, 5g moong dhal, 15g tomato powder, 11.4g spices (salt and black pepper) and condiments (onion, garlic and ginger powder), 2g dried pea, 2g dried spinach, and 2g dried carrot was selected as base recipe for addition of different starch source viz. rice, corn and potato @ 10 g. From the nutritional analysis, it was observed that corn based Instant Soup Mix had higher ?-carotene (7.01 mg/100 g) and protein (12.65 %) content, while fibre (2.09 %) was higher in soup mix containing rice starch. It was observed that on the basis of sensory evaluation corn based soup mix was more acceptable. Therefore, results of nutrition and sensory evaluation indicated that a good quality ISM can be prepared by using corn starch. During the six month of storage, there was about 5.49 per cent increase in moisture, 3.16 and 5.27 per cent decrease in protein and ?-carotene, respectively, along with slight losses in total sugars, fat and sensory quality. Further, the product was stable for 6 months under ambient condition