Nutritional quality and storage stability of <i>chikki</i> prepared using pumpkin seed, flaxseed, oats and peanuts

Abstract

A novel pumpkin seed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">chikki</i> (PSC) and pumpkin chocolate <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">chikki</i> (PCC) with enhanced nutritional quality by incorporating flaxseed, oats and peanuts was studied. The ingredients of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">chikki</i> were pumpkin seed (25%), flaxseed (8.0%), oats (8.0%), peanut (9.0%) and jaggery (50%). The protein and fat contents were 12 and 15% in PSC and PCC and phosphorous was found to be 186 and 206 mg/100 gm, respectively. Equilibrium moisture content – Relative humidity studies showed the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">chikkis</i> were non-hygroscopic in nature and hence can be stored at ambient temperature in polyethylene pouches. The fatty acid composition of the total lipid showed that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">chikkis</i> were rich in oleic and linoleic acids with unsaturated fatty acids constituting 65 and 63% in PSC and PCC, respectively. The overall sensory quality determined on 9 point Hedonic scale indicated that PCC was the preferred one, with sensory score of 8.0 during three months storage at RT.