Nutritional Properties of the Leaf, Seed and Pericarp of the fruit of four cucurbitaceae Species from South- East Nigeria.

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Nutritional Properties of the Leaf, Seed and Pericarp of the fruit of four cucurbitaceae Species from South- East Nigeria.

Abstract:

The proximate composition of the leaf, seed and pericarp of the following cucurbits: Cucurbita ficifolia, Mormodica charantia,Luffa cylindrica and Trichosanthes cucumerina were investigated. The carbohydrate content ranges from (70.17-97.46%), crude protein(0.23-0.50%), crude fiber (12.00-29.50%), ash(0.03-0.90%), moisture(0.09-1.00%), fat(0.006%). The investigation indicates that the leaf, seed and fruit pericarp of the cucurbits are of nutritive value.

Introduction

The Gourd family(cucurbitaceae) includes hundreds of species of vines, bearing coiled climbling tendrils and some of the most unusual fruit in the world (Heiser ,1979). The four plants investigated belong to this group. Momordica charantia (bitter lemon) is a tropical and subtropic vine of the family cucurbitaceae widely grown in India, South Asia, China, Africa and the Caribbeans. Bitter Lemon has the ability to control diabetes. Momordica charantia can be used to expel intestinal gas, tumors, wound treatment, rheumatism, malaria, vaginal discharge and seeds are used to induce abortion (Sofowora, 2006; Taylor, 2006).

Trichosanthes cucumerina(L) belongs to the family cucubitaceae. It is an herbaceous annual climber with perennial root stock. They have tendril bearing vines that will sprawl if not supported. The young unripe fruit are eaten as vegetables, while matured ripened ones are blended after extractor the seed used to prepare stew and soups (Hson-Mou and Paul-Ru-Hay,1986). The roots which are tuberous and white in colour are usually dug, washed peeled and cut into pieces and dried in the sun use as herbal remedies. They are anthelminthic (Burkill, 1985).

Cucurbita ficifolia (Malabar gourd) belongs to cucurbitaceae family. It is an edible squash gourd grown for its edible seeds, fruits and green (Bisogrin, 2002).The immature fruit is eaten while the matured fruit is sweet and used to make confectionary and beverages and sometimes alcoholic. It is used effectively to treat diabetes due to its high D-chiro-Inositol content(Xia and Wang, 2006).

Luffa cylindrica(smooth luffa) belongs to the family cucurbitaceae. It is use as sponge for washing and scrubbing utensils as well as the human body. The young fruits is eaten fresh or cooked as a vegetable. The fruit pulp is used as emollient in Nigeria (Oyetayo et al., 2007).

Nutrition is the science of food, the nutrients and other substances therein, there action, interaction and balance is related to health and diseases (Clamp, 2007).The determination of plants proximate and nutrient content of edible fruit and vegetables plays a crucial role in assessing their nutritional significance. As various medicinal plant species are also used as food along with their medicinal benefits, evaluating their nutritional significance can help to understand the worth these plant species (Pandey et al.,2006).The proximate composition of parts of plants has been determined by some workers (Aletor et al., 2012; Osuagwu, 2008) and found to be highly nutritive. The phytochemical screening of these cucurbits has been carried out and are found to contain alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, saponins and tannins (Edeoga et al., 2010). These phytochemicals are of medicinal value. These plants evaluated are designated weeds but have their application in traditional medicine.

This research work investigates the proximate content of the leaves, seeds and fruit pericarp of the cucurbits which are designated as weeds but has their application in traditional medicine in order to determine their nutritional values.

II. Materials and Method

Collection of Plant Materials

The mature plant and fruits of the four species of Mormodica charantia, Luffa cylindrica, Cucurcita ficifolia and Trichosantes cucumerina were collected from different locations within the environs of Michael Okpara University Of Agriculture Umudike, in Abia State. The four plant species were identified by the taxonomy unit of the Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria. The leaves, seeds and fruit pericarps of the plants were used for the investigation. They were oven dried using Selecta model 150-900C oven. The dried plant materials were ground using Thomas Willey milling machine into fine powder and store in a clean sample bottle and kept in the laboratory at room temperature. The proximate compositions of the samples were carried using the AOAC (1990) methods.

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