Crop Performance and Fruit Physicochemical Properties and Nutritional Components of Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) Cultivated at Different Density.

In this study, three pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata L.) local cultivars namely: Kafr El-Battikh-1 (KB), Kafr Saad (KS) and El-Edua (ED) were cultivated at different plant density: one, two and three plants per the hill. Data were recorded on some main plant growth and development [average content of reduced sugar (mg/100g) of fresh leaves 25 days after sowing, number of opened female flowers per plant, number of fruits per plant, average fruit weight (kg) and average plant length (cm) 120 days after planting]. Further, the resulting fruits were used to study some nutritional quality including the chemical composition, pectin, beta carotene and some minerals content in both pulp and seed kernel of the fruit. The processing of some food products such as fermented sweet bread from the pulp and chicken burger from the seed kernel were investigated. The obtained results showed that there were significant (P<0.05) differences among the cultivars and also among the plant densities used. The fruits harvested from plants grown individually per hill were the best among the others in terms of chemical composition and minerals. The content of pectin and beta carotene contents were also significantly different among the cultivars. The ED cv grown as single plant/hill was the best among the rest of cvs under study in terms of maturit and taste index. Therefore, the treatment ED 1 (1pl/hill) was selected for application in food technological part of current study. The bread and burger were prepared from pumpkin pulp and seed kernel by partially replacing ratios 10, 20, 30 and 40%. The bread and burger were evaluated by some sensory and physical properties. The best results were obtained for bread and burger samples supplemented with 10% and 20% replacement ratio, whether fruit pulp or seed kernel. The products of chemical composition were found in reasonable amounts which confirm the highly nutritional value of these products, as well as, desirable properties that the consumer will accept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]