The effect of pumpkin seed milk use on the physicochemical, textural and sensory properties of pudding

With the increasing interest in plant-based nutrition for various reasons, new product development needs arise. In recent years, the use of alternative plant-based milks in the production of dairy products has attracted the attention of both consumers and producers. In this study, it was aimed to investigate some quality characteristics of pudding dessert produced using milk obtained from pumpkin seeds, which can be grown in many parts of Turkey, are less costly than alternatives, have nutritional and functional properties. Pudding samples consisted of control group P0 containing all cow milk, P25 containing 25% pumpkin seed milk + 75% cow milk, P50 containing 50% pumpkin seed milk + 50% cow milk, P75 containing 75% pumpkin seed milk + 25% cow milk and P100 containing 100% pumpkin seed milk. The pudding samples were subjected to physicochemical (dry matter, mineral matter, protein, pH, viscosity, water retention, antioxidant activity, total phenolic matter, color), textural (firmness, internal stickiness) and sensory (color and appearance, texture and consistency, taste and odor, and overall likability) analyses. As a result of the analyzes, it was determined that the highest value in terms of antioxidant activity, phenolic matter, pH and delta e values belonged to the P100 group. The antioxidant activity value, which was 2.38 μmol trolox/100 g in the control group pudding (P0), increased to 3.79 μmol trolox/100 g in P100. Total phenolic matter value increased from 33.69 to 41.85 mg/100 g. As a result of the sensory analysis, P100 was the sample with the highest color-appearance score. P50 received the highest score in the structure-consistency criterion. In terms of general taste, P25 received the highest score, followed by P50. This study showed that the use of pumpkin seed milk alone or mixed with cow's milk in pudding production improves the functional properties of the product and is sensory acceptable.