Abstract
Whole seeds, dehulled seeds and seed coats of bottle gourd seed (Lagenaria siceraria) were analysed for their proximate, amino acids and mineral compositions. The results of the analysis showed that, whole seed has highest content of moisture (17.5  0.21%) and ash (5.80  0.83%) while dehulled had highest amount of crude protein (35.0  0.48%) and crude lipid (39.22  1.48%) and seed coat contain highest amount of crude fiber (59.05  0.98%). The study showed a profile of seventeen amino acids (isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, cysteine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, threonine, valine, alanine, arginine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, histidine, proline and serine) with glutamic acid, leucine and aspartic acid being the predominant amino acid. The percentages (%) of essential and non-essential amino acids in dehulled seeds, whole seeds and seed coats were 44 vs 56, 41 vs 59 and 51 vs 49 respectively. The dehulled seeds contained essential amino acids that were found to be higher than WHO/FAO/UNU requirement. In whole seeds, threonine, lysine and lysine were found to be the most limiting amino acids. Seed coats were deficient in all the essential amino acids except for valine. Generally, the mineral composition of the seed was found to be relatively high, indicating the seed to be a good source of dietary elements, except for Ca, Zn, Co and Cr where very low values were obtained. Finally, the results of the study indicate that, bottle gourd seed is a potential source of protein, lipid, micro and macronutrients, and if properly utilised, could contribute in solving the problem of malnutrition and also serve as raw material for agro-based industries Keywords: Bottle gourd seeds, seed coat, proximate analysis, minerals and Amino acid composition.Global Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences Vol. 14 (3) 2008: pp. 301-306
Highlights
The insufficient availability of animal protein sources and high cost of the few available plant protein sources has prompted an intense research into harnessing the nutrient potentials of lesser known under utilized legumes and oil crops (Enujigha and Akanbi, 2005)
The aim of this study is to evaluate the proximate composition, amino acids profile and mineral content of the whole seed, dehulled seed and seed coat of Lagenaria siceraria so as to provide information on its nutritional values
The value obtained in dehulled seed is higher than that of soybeans (29.90%), oil beans (22.32%) (Enujiugha and Akambi, 2005) and ground nut (30.4%) which are among the commonest protein sources for Nigerians (Kadiri, 1988)
Summary
The insufficient availability of animal protein sources and high cost of the few available plant protein sources has prompted an intense research into harnessing the nutrient potentials of lesser known under utilized legumes and oil crops (Enujigha and Akanbi, 2005). Cucurbits (family Cucurbitaceae) seeds are sources of food protein and oil. Their nutritional compositions have been reviewed where dehulled cucurbit seeds were reported to contain about 50% oil and up to 35 % protein (Madaan and Lal, 1984; Martin, 1984). Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) plant is an under-utilized legume cosmopolitan in most of tropical and sub-tropical countries. The plant can be grown from seeds on sandy or loamy soil. It can be treated as a prostrate ground cover or as climber; in which case, the maturing fruits might need some support. The aim of this study is to evaluate the proximate composition, amino acids profile and mineral content of the whole seed, dehulled seed and seed coat of Lagenaria siceraria so as to provide information on its nutritional values
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