Pumpkins Falling into Underutilization

Mackenna Mattox
NUTR 4803
December 5, 2016

Abstract
The purpose of this abstract is to discuss the research question and purpose,
provide relevant research, provide a brief description of the methodology, and
state conclusions. The purpose of this lab was to take an underutilized food and
incorporate it into a recipe that will then be altered to make it more healthful.
The student researcher chose to incorporate pumpkins as the underutilized
food and incorporate it into a brownie that would be altered to increase the
protein. Many sources state that pumpkin is a highly wasted food in the United
States; this will be further discussed within the Literature Review. Each lab, the
student researcher used a different protein source in various amounts. These
included whole milk, almond milk, skim milk, ground pumpkin seeds, and
ground sunflower seeds. The student researcher varied the amounts by using
various quantities. The student researcher used a standard pumpkin brownie
recipe2 and had the products evaluated on a 0-100 millimeter scale(based on
sweetness, moistness, and overall acceptability). The goal was to develop a
product that was comparable to the standard recipe. A volume by displacement
objective test was performed on the final products to measure the volume. The
findings from the experiment were as followed: based on sensory evaluation
score cards, the best product was the high addition of skim milk from the third
lab. It was comparable to the standard recipe. These results will be discussed in
greater detail in the results and discussion sections of this presentation.

Introduction
Several food sources in America are gone to waste or
overproduced. Underutilization of many food products can be
caused by the food going bad or because there is an excess of it.
There are ways to incorporate these under used products into
recipes to avoid them going to waste. The purpose of this project
was to incorporate an underutilized food source in a recipe that
will be modified throughout several lab sessions. The student
researcher followed a standard pumpkin brownie recipe and
altered it to make it overall acceptable and healthier by raising
the protein content. The remainder of this presentation will
further discuss the term project through a literature review,
research question, methodology, results, discussion, summary,
and references.

Research Question
The research question for this project is does the
overall acceptability of the student researchers
variations compare to the standard brownie recipe and
does the protein content of the variations exceed the
standard?

Literature Review
The purpose of this literature review is to discuss the pumpkin brownie
recipe, design parameter, and body of knowledge. Pumpkin provides more
than 200 percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin A , as well as
three grams per one cup servings of fiber. 4 However, it turns out that we
go through approximately 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins every year in the
U.S.3 But we don't eat the most of those pumpkins according to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. Instead, we carved faces into them, stuck a
candle in them and left them to sit outside for days. 1 Pumpkins are such a
nutritious food source that should be incorporated more often into fun
recipes. The student researcher prepared a pumpkin brownie recipe from
All Recipe2 and then further altered the recipe 12 times. This included
using different variations of protein sources .

Methods
The purpose of the methodology section is to discuss the methods
and evaluations the student research used to develop a high protein
and acceptable pumpkin brownie that also answers the research
question stated previously. The student researcher used a different
protein sources in various amounts each week. These included whole
milk, almond milk, skim milk, ground ground pumpkin seeds, and
ground sunflower seeds. The student researcher varied the amounts
by using high (100 mL), medium(75 mL), and low(50 mL) quantities.
The student researcher used a standard pumpkin brownie recipe from
All Recipes2, had the products evaluated on a 0-100 millimeter
scale(based on sweetness, moistness, and overall acceptability), and
then conducted a displacement objective test on the final products to
measure the volume. Refer to Table 1 for more information on the
methodology.

Methods
Table 1
Lab #

Attributes

Variations

Objective Test

4.1

Sweetness, Moisture, and

Overall Acceptability

Standard, 100 ml of whole

milk, and 50 ml of whole
milk

100 mL- 60 mL
75 mL- 56 mL
50 m- 62 mL

4.2

Sweetness, Moisture, and

Overall Acceptability

50 mL of almond milk, 75
mL of almond milk, and
100 mL of almond milk

100 mL- 60 mL
75 mL- 61 mL
50 mL- 58 mL

4.3

Sweetness, Moisture, and

Overall Acceptability

50 mL of skim milk, 75 mL
of skim milk, 100 mL of
skim milk + 5 grams of
ground pumpkin seeds,
double egg, double
pumpkin to all 3 variations

100 mL- 60 mL
75 mL- 61 mL
50 mL- 58 mL

4.4

Sweetness, Moisture, and

Overall Acceptability

(most acceptable from

each lab + 5 grams of
ground pumpkin seed, 3
grams ground sunflower
seeds, double egg, and
double pumpkin)

100 mL- 60 mL
75 mL- 61 mL
50 mL- 60 mL

Results
The purpose of this section is to discuss the important results and
describe the products for the standard recipe and the best product.
The best product for this experiment was the high addition (100
mL) of skim milk from lab 4.3 and it answered the research
question discussed in the beginning of this presentation. This
variation had the highest protein content and was comparable to
the standard recipe. Please refer to Figure 1 for viewings of the
comparability. The student researcher also performed an objective
test and the results from this are in Table 5. The goal of these labs
was to improve the protein content each time. The nutrient
analysis for all the variations can be found in tables 3 and 4. The
student researcher also collected data based on 100 millimeter
scorecards, and these statistics results can be found in table 6.

Results
Table 2: Formula Percentage Table
All purpose flour
Baking powder
Salt
Butter
White sugar
Vanilla extract
Eggs
Cocoa powder 0.0625 cups/ 15 grams
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Pumpkin puree
Walnuts
Cinnamon
Cloves
Nutmeg

24 grams8.1%
1 gram0.34%
1 gram0.34%
24 grams8.1%
89 grams30.2%
1 gram0.34%
45 grams15.25%
15 grams5.08%
30 grams10.17%
30 grams10.17%
30 grams10.17%
3 grams1.02%
1 gram0.34%
1 gram0.34%

Total

295100%

Table 3: Nutrient Analysis of Each and Every Variation

Standard

Calories 220
Sugar 21.9 g
Protein 1.84 g

4.1 100 mL Whole Milk

Calories 227
Sugar 22.4 g
Protein 2.22 g

4.1 50 mL Whole Milk

Calories 224
Sugar 21.2 g
Protein 2.03 g

4.2 100 mL Almond Milk

Calories 275 g
Sugar 23.7 g
Protein 3.84 g

4.2 75 mL Almond Milk

Calories 275
Sugar 23.6 g
Protein 3.83 g

4.2 50 mL Almond Milk

Calories 274
Sugar 23.5 g
Protein 3.2 g

4.3 100 mL Skim Milk

Calories 284
Sugar 25 g
Protein 7.13 g

4.3 75 mL Skim Milk

Calories 283
Sugar 24.9 g
Protein 7.03

4.3 50 mL Skim Milk

Calories 282
Sugar 24.8 g
Protein 6.9

4.4 100 mL Skim Milk

Calories 223
Sugar 24.26 g
Protein 3.89 g

4.4 75 mL Almond Milk

Calories 222
Sugar 23.91 g
Protein 3.53 g

4.4 50 mL Whole Milk

Calories 223
Sugar 23.9 g
Protein 3.69 g

Table 4: Nutrient Fact Highlighting Protein in Best and Standard Product

Nutrition Facts- Best Product

Nutrition Facts- Standard Brownie

Calories

220.2

Total Fat

12.7 g

2.5 g

Polyunsaturated Fat

1.8 g

Monounsaturated Fat

2.5 g

Monounsaturated Fat

1.2 g

Saturated Fat

10.8 g

Saturated Fat

6.9 g

Cholesterol

154.9 mg

Cholesterol

24.4 mg

Sodium

122 mg

Sodium

71.6 mg

Total Carb

31.9 g

Total Carb

29.1 g

Sugars

25.0 g

Sugars

21.9 g

Protein

7.1 g

Protein

1.8 g

Calories

250.8

Total Fat

15.4 g

Polyunsaturated Fat

Table 5: Objective Test- Volume by Displacement

100 mL

75 mL

50 mL

Standard

60 mL

Lab 4.1
(Whole)

--

56 mL

--

62 mL

Lab 4.2
(Almond)

--

60 mL

61 mL

58 mL

Lab 4.3
(Skim)

59 mL

60 mL

58 mL

Lab 4.4
(Skim,
Almond,
Whole)

60 mL

61mL

59 mL

Table 6: Statistics Table of Standard and Best Products

Standard Brownie
N=9

Sweetness

Moistness

Overall
Acceptability

Mean

69.5

77.7

88.4

Standard
Deviation

15.3

11.7

9.3

SEM

4.9

3.7

2.9

Sweetness

Moistness

Overall
Acceptability

Mean

64.8

85.3

89.6

Standard
Deviation

8.9

7.3

5.2

SEM

3.0

2.4

1.7

Best Brownie4.3 High Skim

Milk (100 mL)

SEM Graphs
Figure 1: SEM Graph

Discussion
After collecting data from student researchers and family members, the
student researcher then calculated the comparability between the best variation
and the standard. The best brownie product was comparable to the standard in
overall acceptability. In the moistness attribute, the best brownie product was
significantly different than the standard (better). In sweetness, the best brownie
variation was comparable to the standard. For more information, these
comparability results can be found in Figure 1.
The student researcher learned a lot from conducting this experiment.
Important lessons about the time and effort it takes to prepare, conduct, and
finalize a food experiment were learned. The goal of this experiment was to
incorporate an underutilized food and improve the protein content. As stated in
the introduction, it is important to incorporate pumpkins because we go through
approximately 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins every year in the U.S. 3 These
pumpkins are not being eaten though, they are being left out during the fall
season as decoration.1 Besides not wanting to waste food, the student researcher
found it important to conduct this experiment because pumpkins provide more
than 200 percent of the recommended daily intake of vitamin A, as well as three
grams per one cup servings of fiber.4 The student researcher felt that the goal of
incorporating a nutrient dense food such as pumpkins into a high protein brownie
was accomplished. The next section will provide a summary of this entire process.

Summary
The purpose of this summary section is to provide a general review of the lab,
discuss future plans, and reflect on the lab. In summary, the purpose of this lab was
to examine the research question that was prepared for this term project. The
question being does the overall acceptability of the student researchers variations
compare to the standard recipe and does the protein content of the variations
exceed the standard? During all labs, the student researcher made a three variations
which included the most acceptable brownie recipes from the three previous weeks
with the various protein sources including different milks and seeds. The three
products were then evaluated on 100 millimeter scale based on sweetness,
moistness, and overall acceptability. The student researcher then took the remaining
product and performed a volume by seed displacement objective test. The student
researcher plans to continue practicing making these brownies in hopes of getting a
near perfect recipe with high disappearance data. The student researcher also plans
to submit the recipe on the Tiger Recipe website for others to use. In reflection, the
four labs within this experiment went very smoothly overall. The 3 variations took
the full two hours each time to to prepare and bake. The student researcher was
content with the overall results from the final sensory and objective evaluations. The
student researcher was surprised to learn how complicated it can be to conduct a
foods experiment such as this, but plans to continue learning about it and growing
from this experience.

References
1. Do We Waste A lot of Pumpkins We Could be Eating? Available at:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/10/30/452856477/are-we-wast
ing-millions-of-jack-o-lanterns-that-we-could-be-eating
. October 30, 2015. Accessed October 3, 2016.
2. Pumpkin Brownies.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/211165/pumpkin-brownies/ . Accessed
October 3, 2016.
3. The Carving is Donebut What Do You Do with the Pumpkin
Waste? http://sustainablog.org/2011/10/pumpkin-waste/ . Accessed
October 3, 2016.
4. 8 Impressive Health Benefits of Pumpkin.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/04/pumpkin-health-benefits_
n_1936919.html
. September 4, 2014. Accessed October 3, 2016.

Questions?