ABSTRACT

Attempt was made to determine the nutritional and anti nutritional composition of Wild melon (C. ecirrhosus ) popularly known as “Gunar shanu in Hausa land, using suitable methods of analyses. The results for proximate analyses (% DW) showed a composition of 3.73 ± moisture, 2.12 ± 0.08 ash content, 26.36 ± 0.10 crude protein, 50.67 ± crude lipid, 2.17 ± 0.29 crude fibre, 18.69 ± 0.82 carbohydrate and energy value of 601.7 ± 8.75 Kcal/ 100g. Amino acids determination revealed a profile containing essential amino acids for adults, but leucine, lysine, and threonine are below the requirement value for children. The oil was found to composed of a combination of high concentration (67.3%) of unsaturated fatty acids (linoleic acid C:18.2) and oleic C:18.1), and low concentration (36.6%) of saturated fatty acids (stearic acid C: 18.0 and palmitic acid C:16.0). This arrangement gave the oil good properties suitable for industrial and domestic activities. High concentration of nitrate (151666±7637), phytate (136.04±1.54) and saponin (18.65±    0.2mg/100gDW) were recorded in the seed, this is notwithstanding because boiling reduce their effect to a minimum. The overall result implies that seed of the wild melon possessed the potential to be used as a source of nutrition.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1Introduction

Food is no doubt the most basic necessity for one to effectively function in his own ecosystem. It is a substance that often composed of carbohydrate, fats, protein and water which are eaten or drunk by animals or humans for nutrition (Aguilera and David, 1999). The constituent in food contains important chemical substances known as nutrients. These are ingested, digested, absorbed, and circulated in the blood streams to feed the cells which constitute the body building blocks and consequently, the increase in body resistance to diseases and faster recovery of illnesses is witnessed (Shiels et al., 2005; Worthington – Roberts, 2008).

Most of the food consume by humans are sourced from plants and animals, the former has been grouped into; leafy vegetables, seeds, tubers and fruits (Oyiza, 2005). There are over 30,000 known edible plants, from which only 300 were domesticated and more than 95% of the required human plant food were obtained (Tabuti et al., 2004).This is not surprising because the utilization of plant as part of the human diet can be traced back to the emergence of the first man on earth; Adam and Eve and forbidden Fruits or Apple (Onibun et al., 2007). The part of the plant responsible for bearing of seeds is known as Fruit, and is considered a healthy food supplement because it composed of an appreciable amount water, carbohydrate, proteins, lipids, vitamins and minerals; Ca, Mg, K, Zn and Fe (Wenkam, 1990 and Umar, 2010). Also, the Leafy vegetables are rich in proteins and were rated high in amino acids profile (Itanna, 2002; Kala and Prakash, 2004; Gupta et al., 2005; Ogbadoyi et al., 2006; Kala and Prakash, 2006). Moreover, in the stem bark and the roots presents Phyto chemicals with chemotherapeutic benefits (Umar, 2005). However, despite the nutritional benefits ascribed to different parts of the plant, anti nutritional factors which blocked the bioavailability of some mineral elements and change the nutritional status of the food are also present (Ewaida, 1993; Lo – voi et al., 1995).

Meanwhile, the realization of the significance of plants in furnishing the basic nutrients necessary for healthy growth of an individual has prompted the world researchers into the investigation of the nutritional status of various plants with the aim of introducing more plant food required to control the alarming food shortage in the Human nutrition (Al – Sahib and….