Toro Vélez, Kathina T.

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    Cucurbita flowers as a new food product for Puerto Rico: Quality and nutritional assessment
    (2017) Toro Vélez, Kathina T.; Chávez-Jáuregui, Rosa N.; College of Agricultural Sciences; Wessel Beaver, Linda; Custodio, Ángel O.; Department of Food Science and Technology; Orama Meléndez, Rebeca
    Male pumpkin (Cucurbita spp.) flowers are potentially an important source of several nutrients, carotenes, ascorbic acid, folic acid, vitamins, and minerals that humans should consume in their daily diet. The aim of this research was to evaluate the physicochemical, nutritional, and visual quality, and carry out sensory evaluations of flowers of locally adapted pumpkin germplasm, thus exploiting a traditional local crop for the development of new high-value products for local consumption as well as for export. Male flowers from four different genotypes of Cucurbita produced under organic conditions were harvested from the Lajas Substation of the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus: ‘Taína Dorada’, ‘Verde Luz’, ‘Soler’, and ‘Bush White Scallop’. Flowers were minimally processed and stored without and with modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) (5% O2, 11% CO2, and 84% N2) at 5 and 10°C for a period of 7 days to evaluate shelf life. Weight loss, visual quality, vitamin C, β-carotene, total soluble solids, pH, total acidity, total phenolic, and DPPH were evaluated before and after storage. At both storage treatments, flowers without and with MAP had a life span of no more than 5 days before presenting an unmarketable appearance. At 5°C, flowers without and with MAP lost up to 14.8% of initial weight. In contrast, at 10°C flowers without MAP lost up to 19% of initial weight and flowers with MAP up to 14%. At both temperatures, Bush White Scallop lost the most weight for both storage treatments. On the 4th and 5th day of storage flower petals were curled moderately to severely in both storage treatments, although flowers with MAP had a slightly better visual quality than flowers without MAP. Verde Luz and Soler had the highest amount of phenolic content (332 and 342 mg GAE/100 g fresh weight [FW]), and antioxidant activity (94.2 and 91.8 μM TEAC/g FW). Bush White Scallop had a good source of beta-carotene content (14.1 mg/100 g FW) compared with all the other genotypes. Ascorbic acid content averaged 16.15 mg/100 g FW with no significant difference between genotypes. After 5 days of storage at 5°C vitamin C decreased (to 6.03 mg/100 g FW without and 3.83 mg/100 g FW with MAP) and beta-carotene increased (to 13.9 mg/100g FW without and 16.1 mg/100 g FW with MAP). Total acidity decreased to 0.030% without MAP and to 0.020% with MAP while pH increased to 7.52 and 7.36, respectively. Total phenolic compounds decreased to 150.3 mg GAE/100 g FW (without MAP) and 118.4 mg GAE/100 g FW (with MAP). DPPH decreased to 33 μM TEAC/g FW (without and with MAP). Similar results were observed for flowers stored at 10°C. In a sensory evaluation for texture, flavor and general acceptance flowers were rated “liked moderately” on a 9-point hedonic scale. Cooked flowers were also rated as “like moderately.” Since flowers have a short shelf life, it is recommended to consume flowers fresh or cooked to ensure good taste and quality. Production of pumpkin flowers for consumption has the potential to contribute added value to Puerto Rico’s gastronomy and agricultural economy.