Effect of formulation on physiochemical, phytochemical, functional, and sensory properties of the bioactive sauce blended with tomato and pumpkin pulp

Incorporating pumpkin pulp into tomato sauces could serve as a viable solution to meet the growing consumer demand for healthy foods that offer functional benefits. In this study, various pumpkin: tomato pulp ratios of 100:0; 0:100; 75:25; 50:50; and 25:75 were employed in the production of sauces and named S1, S2, S3, S4, and S5, respectively. The sauces were subsequently subjected to assess their physicochemical properties (color, pH, TSS, total sugar, reducing and non-reducing sugar), content of bioactive compounds (phenolics, flavonoids, vitamin C, and β-carotene content), antioxidant and anti-diabetic activities, and consumer approval. The changes in physicochemical properties among all samples were negligible. However, the amount of non-reducing sugar and total sugar were statistically distinct (p≤0.05) among the formations and the order of rank was S5>S4>S3≈S2≈S1. The sauces enriched with tomato pulp exhibited elevated levels of phenolics, flavonoids, vitamin C, and β-carotene content. The formulations of sauces were ranked: S2>S5>S4>S3>S1 concerning phenolics, flavonoids, vitamin C, and β-carotene content. The antioxidant and antidiabetic activities were significantly higher in S2 followed by the rank: S2>S4≈S5>S1≈S3. Based on the results obtained from this research, it was observed that the product formulated up to a composition of 50 to 75% tomato pulp and 50 to 25% pumpkin pulp (S4 and S5) exhibited a greater degree of sensory appeal compared to S2 which is commercial tomato sauce (100% tomato). Therefore, the use of pumpkin pulp has demonstrated its usefulness as a viable substitute for augmenting the levels of bioactive components, while concurrently mitigating the quantity of color, sugar, and other nutrition employed in conventional sauce formulations.