Physicochemical and Sensory Characteristics of Instant Pumpkin Soup with Variations of Porang Flour as a Thickener

Nurrahman^1*, Agus Suyanto¹, Rr Annisa Ayuningtyas² and Diode Yonata¹

¹Department of Food Technology, Muhammadiyah University of Semarang, Semarang, Indonesia.

²Department of Nutrition, Muhammadiyah University of Semarang, Semarang, Indonesia.

Corresponding Author Email:nurrahman@unimus.ac.id

Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) can be processed into instant soup. However, the weakness is its low viscosity. Porang flour as a thickening agent is expected to improve the shortcomings of instant pumpkin soup. This study aimed to investigate the effect of porang flour addition on the physical and sensory characteristics of instant pumpkin soup. This study used a non-factorial, completely randomized design, where the concentration of porang flour (0; 0.5; 1; 1.5 and 2%) was the independent variable. The result showed that the addition of porang flour caused an increase in moisture content, dietary fiber, viscosity, water solubility index and water absorption index in instant pumpkin soup. However, there was a decrease in the value of water activity, vitamin E, rehydration ratio, color, and sensory characteristics of instant pumpkin soup. In conclusion, adding 0.5% porang flour is recommended to produce instant pumpkin soup with good sensory and physicochemical properties.

Instant soup; Physicochemical characteristics; Porang Flour; Pumpkin; Sensory

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