The effects of some parameters of quicklime application on pumpkin dessert

Pumpkin dessert is one of the most consumed and favorite dessert in Turkish cuisine. In this study, the effects of some parameters of quicklime application on pumpkin dessert were investigated. The pumpkin (Cucurbita Maxima) was used to obtain the traditional pumpkin dessert. The outer surface of this species is sliced, rough or smooth, dirty yellow or reddish in color. The flesh is yellow-orange in color and is generally preferred for dessert making. Fresh pumpkins sliced in two different sizes were kept in 0.118% (w/v) of CaO solution for 0, 3, 6, 12, 24 hours, with and without mixing, before cooking. After holding time, half of the sliced pumpkin samples were cooked in 66.6% sucrose solution and the other half were stored for color and texture analysis without cooking. After pumpkin samples kept in CaO solution were removed from the solution, the hardness value of solutions in which samples were kept decreased in parallel with the increase in holding time. While the increase in the thickness parameter increased the hardness in the solution, the hardness values of the solutions with pre-mixing were lower than those without mixing. It is thought that this situation is caused by the passage of Ca+2 ions in the solution to the pumpkin samples by convective diffusion. When the color findings of the pumpkin samples were examined, the L, a, and b values of the cooked pumpkin samples showed a decrease. It was observed that the increase in the holding time decreased the color values more significantly, especially in the pre-cooking samples. Color values decreased in samples that were pre-mixed. It was observed that the increase in thickness decreased the L and a values in the pre-cooking samples, but had no significant effect on the b value. When the textural properties of pumpkin samples are examined; it was observed that cooking process decreased adhesiveness, resilience and cohesiveness values, while it increased hardness, springiness, gumminess and chewiness values. Increasing the holding time decreased adhesiveness, resilience, cohesiveness and springiness values while increasing hardness, gumminess and chewiness values. It was observed that increasing the thickness decreased hardness, adhesiveness, resilience, cohesiveness and gumminess values while increasing springiness and chewiness values. It has been seen that the pre-mixing treatment increased the hardness, resilience, cohesiveness, gumminess and chewiness values while it decreased springiness value and did not significantly change the adhesiveness value. As a result of the findings obtained in this study, it was seen that cooking, mixing, holding time in quicklime solution and thickness parameters significantly affected the color and textural properties of pumpkin samples. Keywords: Pumpkin dessert, quicklime, calcium oxide, texture, color, hardness.