Abstract
Carrot (Daucus carota L.) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) are underutilized root vegetable and fruit belonging to the Apiaceae and Cucurbitaceae family, respectively. A comparative study was carried out on proximate composition, amino acid profile and anti–nutritional factors of Daucus carota and Cucumis sativus. The proximate composition values (%) for Daucus carota and Cucumis sativus were found to be as follows: Moisture (5.06 and 4.39), ash (7.75 and 15.26), crude fat (6.09 and 4.83), crude fibre (13.04 and 18.25), crude protein (9.39 and 14.39) and carbohydrate by difference (58.67 and 42.90). The calculated fatty acids and metabolizable energy values were 4.87 and 3.86%; 1382.35 and 1152.64 kJ 100/g, respectively. The amino acid profiles revealed that Daucus carota and Cucumis sativus contained nutritionally useful quantities of most of the essential amino acids. The total amino acid (TAA), total essential amino acid (TEAA) (with His), total sulphur amino acid (TSAA) and essential aromatic amino acid (EArAA) for the Daucus carota and Cucumis sativus samples were 82.36 and 64.14; 22.93 and 30.11; 1.26 and 1.71; 2.13 and 2.66, respectively. However, supplementation of essential amino acids is required in a dietary formula based on the flour samples of Daucus carota and Cucumis sativus when comparing the EAAs in this report with the recommended FAO/WHO provisional pattern. The first limiting EAA in both samples was Met and Cys (TSAA). The antinutrient contents of Daucus carota and Cucumis sativus were also found to be as follows: Oxalate (241.67 and 142.45 mg/100 g), saponin (0.22 and 0.91%), alkaloids (2.85 and 2.23%), tannins (329.03 and 254.45 mg/100 g), cyanide (4.01 and 3.03 mg/100 g) and phytate (616.41 and 349.62 mg/100 g). These antinutritional factors have been shown to be deleterious to health or evidently advantageous to human and animal health if consumed at appropriate amounts.
Highlights
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food
The results indicate that there were more minerals in Cucumis sativus (15.26%) than in Daucus carota (7.75%); the values of ash content are high compared to those reported for some leafy vegetables such as Solanium nodiflorum (2.67%) [21] and Basella albs L. (Indian spinach)
The crude fibre content values obtained in Daucus carota (13.04%) and Cucumis sativus (18.25%) exceed that of T. triangulare (2.40%), T. occidentalis (1.7%) and C. argentea (1.8%) [30]
Summary
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The alternate definition of the term vegetable is applied somewhat arbitrarily, often by culinary and cultural tradition. It may exclude foods derived from some plants that are fruits, nuts, and cereal grains, but includes fruits from others such as tomatoes, scourgettes and seeds such as pulses [1]. Vegetables were collected from the wild by hunter-gatherers and entered cultivation in several parts of the world, probably during the period 10,000 BC to 7,000 BC, when a new agricultural way of life developed. Most vegetables are grown all over the world as climate permits, and crops may be cultivated in protected environments in less suitable locations. Depending on the type of vegetable concerned, harvesting the crop is followed by grading, storing, processing, and marketing [2]
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