Nutritional and Lipid Composition Analysis of Pumpkin Seed (Cucurbita maxima Linn.)

Abstract

Pumpkin (Curcurbita maxima) is a popular vegetable in our country. This plant is locally known as "Mistikumra". The seeds of pumpkin are rich in oil and nutrients. The nutritional compositions of pumpkin seeds were determined by standard method. The proximate compositions of the powdered seed were moisture 4.06%, ash 3.80%, crude fibre 2.91%, total lipid 36.70%, total protein 34.56%, total soluble protein 18.10%, sugar 1.08%, and starch 2.15%. The minerals composition of the seed were nitrogen 5.53%, phosphorus 0.71%, sodium 4.80 Cmol/kg, potassium 20.00 Cmol/kg, Calcium 4.40 Cmol/kg, Magnesium 348.7 ppm, iron 290.0 ppm, coper 70 ppm, zinc 39.9 ppm, and manganese 17.9 ppm. It is used as a potentially attractive source of lipid, protein and crude fibre. The oil was extracted from seed of Cucurbita maxima by solvent extraction process using petroleum ether (40°-60°C). The oil content was found to be 12%. The specific gravity of the oil was estimated to be 0.9412 at 31°C. GLC analysis of oil indicated that it contained highest amount of oleic acid 40.58%, while stearic acid, palmatic acid and linoleic acid contents were found to be 27.06%, 17.39% and 14.97% respectively. In addition, the iodine value, saponification value, saponification equivalent, acid value and percentage of free fatty acid of seed oil were determined by standard method and found to be 114.33, 193.73, 289.58, 0.516 and 0.2646% respectively. High degree of unsaturation makes it suitable for using as valuable drying agent, and lower free fatty acid content indicates suitability of the oil for probably edible purpose. Cururbita maxima seed oil is a rich source of linoleic acid, which is useful in human body.

Nutritional Contribution of an Undervalued Ancestral Cucurbita, Study of Sicana sp. Endocarp, Epicarp and Seeds Composition

“…In the seeds, the high content of dietary fiber (40.19%), total proteins (18.58%) and lipids (11.74%) stand out. Although the moisture content of the analyzed seeds (35.29%) is similar to that reported for the Curcubita maxima (pumpkin) [9], it has a much lower dietary fiber content and the total protein content is higher than that of this job. Of the minerals analyzed, Ca was the majority, both in the endocarp and in the analyzed seeds.…”

Enrichment of Fermented Sorghum Flour with Pumpkin Pulp and Seed for Production of A Vitamin A and Iron Enhanced Supplementary Food

“…These protein values are comparable to 37.33 g/100g reported by Dhiman et al (2018) for pumpkin seed flour and 9.50 g/100g reported by Pereira et al (2020) and 9.65 g/100g obtained by Aukkanit & Sirichokworrakit (2017) for pumpkin pulp flour. The values for pumpkin seed protein were higher than 34.56 g/100g reported by Shahangir (2015) but lower than 39.22 g/100g obtained by Shemi (2014). Protein intake among children in Kenya has been reported to be insufficient both in quality and quantity in turn resulting in protein deficiencies (Kinyuru et al, 2012;Okoth et al, 2017).…”

Oil Characterization and Seeds Composition of Sicana odorifera, an Ancestral Cucurbita from Paraguay

“…At a moisture level below 11%, the total lipid content in S. odorifera seeds observed is higher than that reported in seeds of fruits of the same family of Cucurbitaceae such as squash Cucurbita maxima (30.66 g/100 g) [5].…”