Authors
Title
Abstract
The objectives of the study was to compare the physical and chemical composition of fresh and 3-month stored pumpkin preserves, such as purees, puree juices, and cloudy juices, all of them enriched with the Japanese quince and cornelian cherry; the preserves were stored at a temperature of 4 ºC and 30 ºC. The extracts, the dry matter, and the content of mineral compounds were similar in all of the products. The puree and puree juice were characterized by a much higher viscosity level than the cloudy juice. The largest amounts of bioactive compounds were detected in the lowly processed products (puree, puree juice, and cloudy juice with no enzymes added) and in those stored at 4 ºC. In the products pressed, it was found that the loss of carotenoids was the highest; the quantity of carotenoids determined in the puree juice was 5.02 mg/100 g FM, in the puree: 4.07 mg/100 g FM, and in the cloudy juices: between 0.1 and 0.25 mg/100g FM. The pressing process impacted also the colour parameters and caused a significant deterioration thereof. The storage conditions contributed significantly to the decrease in the content of vitamin C and polyphenols; however, they did not significantly impact the colour parameters or the content of carotenoids.
Keywords
Cucurbita maxima, Chaenomeles japonica, Cornus mas, puree, puree juice, cloudy juice