PROXIMATE AND MINERAL COMPOSITIONS OF CUCURBITA PEPO SEED OIL SOURCED FROM EBONYI STATE, NIGERIA


This study was designed to determine the proximate constituents (carbohydrate, protein, moisture, ash, fibre and fat) and mineral contents (calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese and sodium) of Cucurbita pepo seed oil. These were done using well known standard methods. The results revealed the following order of occurrence of proximate composition (%): protein (29.42 ± 1.04) > fat (27.86 ± 1.00) > carbohydrates (12.16 ± 0.54) > moisture (4.66 ± 0.06) > ash (3.32 ± 0.04) > fibre (2.58 ± 0.02) with their percentage occurrences in the seed oil. The results also revealed the following minerals in mg/100g: calcium (1.45 ± 0.01), magnesium (3.58 ± 0.10), iron (0.97 ± 0.01), copper (0.40 ± 0.10), manganese (0.60 ± 0.11) and sodium (0.37 ±0 .01). Due to presence of these proximate and minerals, the results obtained from this study shows that Cucurbita pepo seed oil is a good source of essential minerals and proximate, thus, could be used as a nutritional su


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