Thursday, January 15, 2009

Squash for better health, eyesight (2 of 2)

The food values of kalabasa—its fruits, flowers and tops—are widely used as vegetables. Its young shoots are an excellent source of calcium, phosphorus, iron and Vitamin B. The flowers contain Vitamin A and calcium. The fruit is rich in iron, phosphorus, calcium and Vitamin A.

There is this yellow pan de sal—a roll made from dough that is “35-percent squash puree” instead of 100 percent wheat flour.

The vegetable-enriched bread has its taste, shape and texture of the original. The only obvious difference is the color: it comes out of the oven yellowish rather than brown. It was as though the bread had been dipped in margarine
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Fortified with Vitamin A

The yellow pan de sal comes fortified with Vitamin A, owing to the puree. A 52-gram serving could already provide 24 percent of the Recommended Daily Allowance of Vitamin A and 10 percent of the daily energy requirement of a child aged 7 to 9.

The squash-enriched pan de sal can be mass-produced free from pathogenic microorganisms such as E.Coli and salmonella. Under ambient temperature conditions, it can have a shelf life of up to three days.

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