In this study, a new application of pumpkin pulp in bread production is shown. The aim of this work is to determine the influence of the addition of fresh pumpkin pulp directly into wheat flour on physical, sensorial and biological properties of bread. The bioaccessibility of active compounds was also studied. An increase in the addition of pumpkin pulp from 5 to 20% (converted to dry matter) caused a decrease of bread volume and increase of crumb hardness and cohesiveness. The sensory characteristics of the bread showed that a partial replacement of wheat flour with up to 10% of pumpkin pulp gave satisfactory results. The taste, aroma and overall acceptability of control bread and bread containing 5 or 10% of pulp had the highest degree of liking. The addition of higher levels of pumpkin pulp caused an unpleasant aroma and taste. Pumpkin pulp is a good material to complement the bread with potentially bioaccessible phenolics (including flavonoids) and, especially, with peptides. The highest antioxidant activity was observed, in most cases, of the samples with added 10 and 15% of pumpkin pulp. The addition of the pulp significantly enriched the bread with potentially bioaccessible angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. The highest activity was determined in the bread with 15 and 20% pumpkin pulp. ACE inhibitors from the tested bread were highly bioaccessible in vitro. Pumpkin pulp seems to be a valuable source of active compounds to complement the wheat bread. Adding the pulp directly to the wheat flour gives satisfactory baking results and reduces the cost of production. Additionally, pumpkin pulp is sometimes treated as waste material after the acquisition of seeds, thus using it as bread supplement also has environmental and economic benefits. Key words: pumpkin, bread, texture, antioxidants, bioaccessibility in vitro, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition.

Open Access Agricultural Journals published by Institute of Agricultural Economics and Information

The intensity of organic matter transformation in soil may be subject to various factors, especially to the previously applied non-standard chemical-based fertilizers. The objective of study was to assess the number of selected groups of microorganisms and enzymatic activity in soil after waste utilization. Biogas digestate (1.5 and 3.0%) and mineral mining waste (10 and 20%) were added to podzolic soil. The results demonstrated that the application of these wastes increased the number of microorganisms in the soil. 20% mineral mining waste provided the most favorable conditions for the development of oligotrophs and copiotrophs, whereas 3% biogas digestate most positively affected the total number of bacteria. This waste increased soil enzyme activity proportionally to the applied concentration. The highest activity was obtained for 1.5% biogas digestate. The number of oligotrophs, copiotrophs, and proteolytic microorganisms correlated positively with pH, organic carbon content, total nitrogen, and micronutrients present in the soil, while negatively with phosphorus content. The activity of the majority of enzymes was positively correlated with the content of mineral nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. In this study, we were not able to demonstrate a negative correlation between the content of heavy metals and the number of microorganisms in the soil. These results suggest that biogas digestate and mineral mining waste can be used in agricultural practice to improve microbial activity of the subsoil with a large reserve of safety for the soil environment.