Nutritional quality, physicochemical characteristics, antioxidant properties and sensory quality evaluation of Cucurbita pepo incorporated bread

• Bread formulation by using Cucurbita pepo peel, pulp, and seed and quality evaluation of its. • Cucurbita pepo seeds formulated bread showed good quality characteristic than others • Higher consumer acceptability showed in Cucurbita pepo formulated bread. • Antioxidant content of Cucurbita pepo enhances the formulated bread shelf-life. • Bread formulated by Cucurbita pepo seed showed lower amount of microbial content Bread is a popular flour-based snack consumed throughout the world and is being regularly reformulated with functional ingredients to enhance its nutritional value. Cucurbita pepo (pumpkin) is widely cultivated in Bangladesh, and its nutrient rich pulp, as well as peel and seeds contain valuable functional components. The purpose of this study was to determine how addition of varying percentages (%) of Cucurbita pepo (CP) pulp, peel and seed to bread formulations affected the breads nutritional, physicochemical, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and sensory properties. Five types of bread, namely Control (without CP), T1 (15% CP peel, w/w), T2 (15% CP pulp, w/w), T3 (15% CP seed, w/w), and T4 (5% CP peel + 5% CP pulp + 5% CP seed, w/w) were prepared using wheat flour, yeast, sugar, salt, oil and water. T3 exhibited significantly higher ( p < 0.05 ) loaf weight, pH, ash, fat, protein, calcium, total phenolic content (TPC), free radical scavenging activity (DPPH), lightness, redness, and overall acceptability compared to other treatments. In addition, T3 showed significantly ( p < 0.05) lower loaf volume, yellowness, chroma, hue, and microbial contamination during storage period. T4 exhibited the highest overall sensory acceptability, lower cooking loss, improved mineral content, increased water-holding capacity, and appealing color characteristics. These findings demonstrated that CP seeds improved the nutritional quality, antioxidant,and antimicrobial activities of bread, while maintaining natural color and enhancing overall quality of bread, compared with the other treatments.