Studies on the usefulness of Cucurbita maxima for the production of ready-to-eat dried vegetable snacks with a high carotenoid content

Recent research indicates a beneficial influence of a diet rich in beta-carotene on human health. For that reason, experiments were undertaken to process winter squash with a high carotenoid content into ready-to-eat dried snacks. Sensory quality and dietary value of chips and crispy cubes made from different cultivars were investigated. The suitability of winter squash for drying purposes depended mainly on the dry matter content in the raw material. Although all the investigated cultivars can be used for producing chips, obtaining high quality porous cubes requires at least 15% of dry matter. 'Justynka F1' emerged as the most suitable cultivar for processing; both chips and cubes produced from its fruits were characterized by a high sensory quality and contained significant amounts of beta-carotene (225- 253 mu g g-1). Also, the cultivar 'Amazonka' could be considered for the production of chips as it allowed us to obtain a product with a high beta-carotene content (200 mu g g-1) and good sensory properties. The dried ready-to-eat crispy vegetable snacks made from the new cultivars of winter squash could be exploited as a novel attractive product with the attractive taste and colour to serve as a valuable source of carotenoids in human diet. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.