DHIMAN, ANJU K.BADESHA, TEJPREET KAUR2017-03-212017-03-212017http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810005598ABSTRACT The present investigation entitled “Utilization of ripe pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata Duch ex Poir) for the development of intermediate moisture foods” were carried out during 2014-2016 in the Department of Food Science and Technology, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan (HP). The study was conducted to develop Intermediate Moisture Foods (IMFs) from ripe pumpkin and to evaluate the products for quality and storage stability. The pumpkin with 86.80 per cent moisture content was found to be a good source of β-carotene (13.24 mg/100 g), ascorbic acid (13.47 mg/100 g) and crude fibre (0.65 %). Among different treatments of pumpkin cubes, the preserve prepared by P3 (steam blanching for 6 min + dip in 1.0 per cent citric acid for 10 min) was found to be the best with higher value for chemical attributes. During storage the maximum retention of chemical and sensory quality was observed in preserve prepared by slow method as compared to one period method. For preparation of pumpkin tutti-frutti, the cubes treated with T4 (steam blanching for 4 min + dip in 0.25 per cent calcium hydroxide for 10 min) was found to be the best. The method of preparation of tutti-frutti has been developed and standardized. The tutti-frutti prepared by using 200 ppm concentration of both red and green colour and 0.04 per cent concentration of mixed fruit flavour received the higher sensory scores among all the combinations tried. The storage study reflected that all the treatments viz. TF1 (control), TF2 (red colour + mixed fruit flavour) and TF3 (green colour + mixed fruit flavour) retained better chemical quality and received higher sensory scores. ALP was found to be better packaging material for pumpkin tutti-frutti in comparison to LDPE and PET jars. The products can be safely stored with minimal changes in quality attributes for more than a period of six months under ambient conditions when packed in appropriate packaging material. Henceforth, it is concluded that ripe pumpkin which otherwise is processed to a limited extent, can be successfully utilized for the production of good quality and nutritionally enriched intermediate moisture foods of remunerative cost.ennullThesis