Partial replacement of wheat flour with pumpkin seed flour in muffins offered to children

Effects of partial replacement of wheat flour with pumpkin seed flour on quality indices of muffins for children were studied. Fatty acid (FA) composition, peroxide value (PV), anisidine value (AnV) and conjugated diene (CD) and triene (CT) contents were assayed in lipids extracted from muffins and related to storage time. Both PV and AnV values increased with the increasing content of pumpkin seed flour. Regardless the pumpkin seed flour share, the content of CD was higher than of CT in muffins. As the replacement of wheat flour with pumpkin seed flour increased, the nutritional value of muffins improved. It appears appropriate to incorporate 33% of pumpkin seed flour into muffins stored for 2 weeks without special packaging conditions. More than 71% of the children evaluated muffins containing 33% of pumpkin seed flour as 'tasty' and 'very tasty'. The experimental muffin formulation resulted in a novel product suitable for children's nutrition.