Pumpkin Powder

Flesh of ripe Cucurbita moschata fruit is cooked or steamed, dried in warm air and milled to 80 mesh to give pumpkin powder. The powder is yellow-orange and tastes mildly sweet and nutty, with the soft, earthy flavor of cooked winter squash. Seeds, rind and flowers of the plant are separate materials.

Pumpkin is a starchy, carotenoid-rich vegetable, and the powder keeps both. It disperses in water as a thick, golden suspension, and it is used as a natural color and as a body-building ingredient as much as for flavor.

SKU: BOT-VPO-0016 Category: Vegetable Powders Tags: Bars & Bakery, Dehydrated Powder, Fruit & Berry, Plant-Based Foods, Pumpkin, Seasonings & Flavors, Seasonings & Sauces, Vegetable Powders

Dehydrated Pumpkin Processing

The species is Cucurbita moschata (Duchesne) Duchesne ex Poir., the butternut or tropical pumpkin group, a trailing vine of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae). “Pumpkin” is a loose trade name covering several species. The jack-o’-lantern pumpkin is mostly Cucurbita pepo, giant show pumpkins are Cucurbita maxima, and butternut squash and many canned-pumpkin varieties are C. moschata. The species name therefore defines which fruit is meant.

The raw material is fresh pumpkin flesh. Fruit is washed, peeled, deseeded, cut and dried in warm air, then ground to a powder. Starch gelatinizes during drying, which gives the powder an easy-to-hydrate thickening ability that raw starch lacks. Heat also deepens the orange and develops a roasted-squash sweetness.

Pumpkins are harvested in autumn when the rind hardens and the flesh turns deep orange, and fruit stores well for months. Longer storage converts some starch to sugar, which makes late-season flesh sweeter. Fruit of different cultivars varies in sweetness and fiber, so the powder is described by color and taste and not by variety.

Because the rind and seeds are removed, the powder is smooth and free of fiber fragments. The pale starchy flesh near the cavity lightens the color slightly, so blends of outer and inner flesh give a yellow-orange powder and not a deep orange one.

Pumpkin Color, Flavor & Composition

Pumpkin powder is yellow-orange, a color from carotenoids in the flesh, chiefly beta-carotene and related pigments. They are fat-soluble and stay dispersed in water as a warm, opaque suspension. The flavor is mild and sweet with a nutty, earthy background, and a roasted note appears from drying.

Characteristic constituents are starch, sugars, carotenoids, pectin and dietary fiber. No figure is given for any of them. The starch and pectin together give the powder noticeable thickening power when hydrated, and a soup or sauce made from it builds viscosity without added thickeners.

In a formula pumpkin powder behaves partly as a flavor and partly as a starch. Its thickening shows up in soups and batters, so a recipe that adds it should lower other thickeners in step, and a taste panel should judge sweetness only after the powder has fully hydrated.

Form	What It Is	Choose It When
Dehydrated Pumpkin Powder	Hot-air dried and milled cooked flesh	A sweet, starchy, golden base is wanted
Freeze-Dried Pumpkin Powder	Flesh dried under vacuum	A fresher color and aroma matter most
Pumpkin Juice Powder	Spray-dried juice on a carrier	A soluble, fiber-light color is wanted
Butternut Squash Powder	Dehydrated butternut squash	A squash-named product is specified

Typical Specifications

Specification Item	Product Information
Latin Name	Cucurbita moschata
Plant Part	Fruit & Berry
Processing	Dehydrated
Common Name	Pumpkin
Raw Material	Fresh pumpkin flesh
Ingredient Type	Dehydrated Vegetable Powder
Appearance	Yellow-Orange powder (natural color of the dried material)
Flavor	Mild, sweet, nutty
Solubility / Dispersibility	Water Dispersible
Quality Parameters
Moisture (LOD)	≤8.0%
Particle Size	80 mesh
Heavy Metals	Lead ≤2 ppm · Arsenic ≤1 ppm · Cadmium ≤1 ppm · Mercury ≤0.1 ppm
Microbiology	TPC ≤10,000 cfu/g · Yeast & Mold ≤1,000 cfu/g · E. coli Negative · Salmonella Negative/25 g
Shelf Life	24 months in unopened original packaging, cool and dry storage

Application Areas

Soup, Bisque and Sauce Bases

Dry soup bases use pumpkin powder for golden color, sweetness and body. It hydrates in hot liquid and thickens with its starch, and a pinch of nutmeg, ginger or sage brings out the squash character in cream-style soups.

Pancake, Muffin and Bread Mixes

Baking mixes use pumpkin powder to supply pumpkin flavor, color and moisture-holding fiber without wet puree. It blends with cinnamon and clove, and baking deepens the orange, so recipes check the final crumb color against the finished muffin, not the batter.

Noodle, Gnocchi and Pasta Doughs

Noodle and gnocchi makers add pumpkin powder to flour for warm yellow-orange dough. Starch in the powder contributes to dough binding, and the carotenoids hold up in cooking at neutral pH, though light slowly fades dried pasta.

Snack and Cereal Coatings

Snack and cereal coatings use pumpkin powder for color and mild sweetness. It sticks well to oil or syrup binders, and the roasted-squash note suits seasonal flavors such as spiced pumpkin, caramel and maple in cereal and bar coatings.

Plant-Based and Savory Premixes

Plant-based patties, dumplings and filling mixes take pumpkin powder for binding, color and a gentle sweet note. It absorbs water and keeps a cooked patty moist, which helps hold shape without added gums, and the orange tint reads as a vegetable ingredient.

Handling Notes

Pumpkin powder is hygroscopic because of its starch and sugars. In humid air it clumps, darkens and forms a crust at the drum surface, and the starch swells where it gets damp. Handle it in a dry room and close the liner after every scoop.

Carotenoid color fades with light, heat and oxygen. Opaque, sealed packaging and a cool store hold the orange, and fat-containing mixes pull the pigment into the oil phase, which deepens the color of the fat. Aged powder develops a stale, hay-like note.

Wet starch lumps are harder to disperse than dry clumps. When adding the powder to liquids, sprinkle slowly with stirring or pre-blend it with sugar or flour, since dumped powder forms gel-coated lumps that hydrate from the outside in.

Storage temperature changes the sweetness balance. In warm rooms the sugars brown and the powder takes on a toasted, caramel edge, while in a cool store it keeps the fresher, vegetal sweetness it had when received.

Packaging & Commercial Supply

Essencefield supports product evaluation, formulation trials, commercial orders, and ongoing ingredient supply. Packaging, storage, and shipping arrangements are determined by product characteristics, order quantity, stability requirements, and destination-market needs.

Supply Item	General Information
Sample	Available upon request for formulation, testing, and supplier evaluation
Order Quantities	100 g · 1 kg · 5 kg · 25 kg · 100 kg · 500 kg · Bulk
Sample Lead Time	Typically 5–7 days after sample confirmation
Production Lead Time	Typically 15–30 days after order and specification confirmation
Packaging	Suitable protective inner packaging with bags, cartons, drums, or other appropriate outer packaging
Storage	Store in tightly sealed, suitable protective packaging in a cool, dry environment. Protect from moisture, heat, and direct sunlight. Specific storage conditions follow the approved product specification.
Documentation	COA · Product Specification · TDS · SDS · Applicable declarations (as applicable)

Final order quantities, lead times, packaging, documentation, and shipping arrangements are confirmed according to the selected product and commercial requirements.