Okoye Ngozi Franca
Department of Biochemistry, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
ABSTRACT
The antinutritional factors of three Nigerian cucurbits namely, snake tomato Trichosanthes cucumerina, pumpkins Cucurbita pepo and Cucurbita moschata were analyzed. The antinutritional factors evaluated were tannin ranging from 0.23 to 0.49%; oxalate, 0.01 to 0.23%; cyanogenic glycosides, 0.43 to 0.44% and trypsin inhibitor, 6.32 to 11.58 TI unit/g. There were significant differences (p<0.05) in some of the antinutritional components of the cucurbits evaluated. The samples exhibited high protein digestibility but low levels of antinutrients which showed that the cucurbits studied cannot be toxic for human consumption postulating that the samples are of high nutritional quality so large scale production should be encouraged.
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How to cite this article
Okoye Ngozi Franca, 2012. Antinutritional Evaluation and In vitro Protein Digestibility of Some Nigerian Cucurbits. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition, 11: 208-210.
DOI: 10.3923/pjn.2012.208.210
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=pjn.2012.208.210
DOI: 10.3923/pjn.2012.208.210
URL: https://scialert.net/abstract/?doi=pjn.2012.208.210
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