Comparative study on nutrient contents in the different parts of indigenous and hybrid varieties of pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima Linn.)

Abstract

Two varieties (indigenous and hybrid) of pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) are cultivated and widely used as food sources in Bangladesh. The aim of this study is to compare nutrient contents in different parts of two varieties of pumpkin. The nutritional compositions were analyzed by standard methods. Fatty acids and amino acids were analyzed by GC/MS and amino acid analyzer. The proximate compositions analysis data indicate that a higher amount of moisture (p < 0.001) and fat (p < 0.01) were observed in the seed of indigenous but the seed of hybrid were rich in crude fiber (p < 0.01) and carbohydrate (p < 0.001). On the contrary carbohydrate content was predominant in the flesh (p < 0.05) and peel (p < 0.01) of indigenous. The energy content was high in the peel, seed and flesh of indigenous (p < 0.001, 0.001 and 0.05 respectively). A significant amount of reducing sugar was found in the peel, flesh (p < 0.05) and seed (p < 0.001) of hybrid. Vitamin C content was high in peel (p < 0.001) and seed (p < 0.01) of indigenous and only in the flesh (p < 0.001) of the hybrid. A remarkable amount of Na, K, Fe and Zn were present in peel (p < 0.001) of hybrid. The notable amount of P and Cu (p < 0.01) were present in the seed and K, Fe and Ca (p < 0.001) were in the flesh of indigenous. The seed of hybrid was enriched with saturated fatty acid (capric acid, p < 0.001; myristic acid, p < 0.01 and stearic acid, p < 0.05), whereas unsaturated fatty acids (oleic, linoleic and linolenic acid, p < 0.05) were rich in the seed of indigenous. A significant amount of threonine, serine, methionine, isoleucine and tyrosine were present in the seed of indigenous (p < 0.01) but only alanine in the seed of hybrid (p < 0.01). These results suggested that a considerable amount of nutrients were present in all three parts of the two varieties, thus both varieties could be the potential source of nutraceuticals.

Physicochemical and Functional Properties of Pumpkin (Cucurbita Pepo) Pulp Flour and Acceptability of its Inclusion in Cake

“…The result of the mineral analysis shows potassium -2924mg/100g, magnesium -42.41mg, iron -33.35mg/100g and calcium -28.48mg/100g as the predominant minerals with Potassium being the most abundant, similar works by Adubufuor et al [38], Amin et al [39] and Mayer [40] reported Potassium as the most abundant mineral in pumpkin pulp flour. The result for calcium is similar to the value reported by Mayer [40].…”

“…The result shows phosphorous as the least abundant at 0.23mg/100g, Amin et al [39] reported similar low value of phosphorous 1.36mg/100g, however Adubufuor et al [38] reported a value of 295.75mg/100g for phosphorous. Manganese 1.06mg/100g and zinc 1.83mg/100g were found to be higher than the 0.40mg/100g for manganese and 0.23mg/100g for zinc reported by Amin et al [39], while the result for sodium at 11.99mg/100g was lower than 20.75mg/g reported by the same work. The variation in the mineral content may be due to changes in agricultural practice, soil types and varieties grown [40].…”

Food Hydrocolloids from Butternut Squash (Cucurbita moschata) Peel: Rheological Properties and Their Use in Carica papaya Jam

“… 19 The total ash content of hydrocolloids was between 5.41 and 9.02%, where the samples extracted at pH 3 and 10 presented the highest values and that at pH 7 presented the lowest; this parameter is indicative of physiological minerals, 20 which indicates that the HBSP obtained in alkaline and acid mediums could present the highest amount of sodium, potassium, iron, calcium, or magnesium, the principal minerals identified in the peel of squash. 21 The amount of protein was similar in all case studies, presenting values of 16.32 for pH 3, 18.09 for pH 7, and 18.89 for pH 10. These results obtained are higher than those for guar gum (8.20%), 18 fenugreek seed (7.24%), 22 and xanthan gum (5.40%) and the lowest– for Arabic (2.31%) gum.…”

Potensi Pangan Fungsional Dan Perannya Dalam Meningkatkan Kesehatan Manusia Yang Semakin Rentan—mini Review

“…Ada beberapa cara yang umum digunakan dalam memperoleh derivat peptida, yakni a) hidolisis dengan enzim menggunakan pepsin, tripsin, papain, dan beberapa protease lainnya, b) fermentasi dengan menggunakan mikroba, c) kombinasi enzim dan mikroba dan d) food processing dengan perlakuan panas dan tekanan (Tu et al, 2018). Amin et al, (2019) melaporkan bahwa salah satu sayuran yang termasuk dalam famili cucurbitaceae, labu, merupakan sumber utama komponen bioakif yang memiliki manfaat yang positif terhadap kesehatan.…”