Pumpkin (Curcurbita maxima) is a popular vegetable in our country. This plant is locally known as "Mistikumra". The seeds of pumpkin are rich in oil and nutrients. The nutritional compositions of pumpkin seeds were determined by standard method. The proximate compositions of the powdered seed were moisture 4.06%, ash 3.80%, crude fibre 2.91%, total lipid 36.70%, total protein 34.56%, total soluble protein 18.10%, sugar 1.08%, and starch 2.15%. The minerals composition of the seed were nitrogen 5.53%, phosphorus 0.71%, sodium 4.80 Cmol/kg, potassium 20.00 Cmol/kg, Calcium 4.40 Cmol/kg, Magnesium 348.7 ppm, iron 290.0 ppm, coper 70 ppm, zinc 39.9 ppm, and manganese 17.9 ppm. It is used as a potentially attractive source of lipid, protein and crude fibre. The oil was extracted from seed of Cucurbita maxima by solvent extraction process using petroleum ether (40°-60°C). The oil content was found to be 12%. The specific gravity of the oil was estimated to be 0.9412 at 31°C. GLC analysis of oil indicated that it contained highest amount of oleic acid 40.58%, while stearic acid, palmatic acid and linoleic acid contents were found to be 27.06%, 17.39% and 14.97% respectively. In addition, the iodine value, saponification value, saponification equivalent, acid value and percentage of free fatty acid of seed oil were determined by standard method and found to be 114.33, 193.73, 289.58, 0.516 and 0.2646% respectively. High degree of unsaturation makes it suitable for using as valuable drying agent, and lower free fatty acid content indicates suitability of the oil for probably edible purpose. Cururbita maxima seed oil is a rich source of linoleic acid, which is useful in human body.

The production of biscuits utilizing ripe banana peel flour (BPF) as a wheat flour (WF) alternative is presented in this study. Locally available Sabri banana peel was dried into a cabinet dryer at 65⁰C for 8 hours. The dried peel then turned into powder and sieved. The flours used in the preparation of the biscuits were analyzed for proximate composition. BPF contained a higher amount of fat compared to WF. Five samples of biscuits S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5 substituting WF with 0, 5, 10, 20, and 30% BPF in the standard biscuits were prepared S1 denoted the control sample adding no BPF. The proximate composition and sensory quality of the produced biscuits were tested. All of the biscuit samples had greater weights than the control biscuit. In comparison to the control biscuit, BPF enriched biscuits had reduced diameter. Biscuits made with 10% BPF had a greater spread ratio than those made with other ingredients. The moisture, protein, fat, and total sugar content of biscuit samples were found in the range of 4.05-5.32%, 6.60-9.00%, 10.00-10.32%, and 17.00-25.00%, respectively. A sharp decrease in protein content was observed with the increase of BPF in the biscuits. A slight increase of fat was observed in the BPF substituted biscuits. The ash content in the control sample was 1.5%, and that in the banana peel substituted samples ranged from 1.80% to 2.0%. BPF substitution showed a downward trend in terms of color, flavor, texture, and general acceptability. The panelists rated sample S1 as having the highest overall acceptability. Among the BPF-containing biscuits, sample S2 had the best overall acceptance, followed by samples S3, S4, and S5. In terms of general acceptability, however, there are no notable variations between samples S2 and S3. According to sensory analysis, quality BPF biscuits may be prepared by replacing up to 10% of the WF with BPF.

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Red amaranth is a perishable, colored leafy vegetable that can be preserved through a variety of methods, including dehydration. The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of pre-treatments (blanching, sulphitation, and blanching plus sulphitation) and drying methods (cabinet and solar) on drying rate and color intensity of red amaranth (leaves and stems) and the development of red amaranth enriched noodles. Drying rate and color intensity were varied in different degrees based on applied pre-treatment and drying method. For drying of red amaranth leaves, blanching plus sulphitation followed by cabinet drying showed highest drying rate (0.67 h-1), whereas blanching followed by cabinet drying showed fastest drying rate (0.69 h-1) for red amaranth stems. Color absorbance study revealed that sulphitation pre-treatment and cabinet drying leads highest color absorbance (0.261) in red amaranth leaves, while blanching and cabinet drying provides highest color intensity (0.121) in stems. The use of red amaranth leaves powder in noodles preparation at 5% and 10% wheat flour substitutions gave significantly different (p<0.05) sensory parameters. Substitution of 5% wheat flour by sulphited and cabinet dried red amaranth leaves powder gave the highest overall acceptability of developed noodles.