Comparative Studies on the Chemical Composition of Chrysophyllum albidum Seed and Five Different Melon Seeds

摘要

Chrysophyllum albidum fruits, pulp, and seed shell had been observed to be excellent sources of vitamins, nutrients, and minerals needed in the human body, but the contents of the seed has not been well documented. Seeds of Chrysophyllum albidum and the five different melon seeds were bought from Lafenwa market in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. The seeds were removed from the shell manually, air dried and ground to a fine powder. The chemical compositions of these seeds were determined to evaluate the nutrients, anti–nutrients levels, and the seed oil using standard analytical methods.The nutrients compositions of the six sample seeds showed that carbohydrate content ranged between 1.43 –69.21g/100g; ash, 3.14 – 4.75 g/100g; crude fibre,3.29 -7.10 g/100g; protein,1.37 – 33.74 g/100g; and fat,4.5 – 53.81 g/100g. All the seeds had low level of anti–nutrients with high mineral and nutrient levels except Chrysophyllum albidum seed. The extracted oil from the seeds were moderately acidic (pH 6.64 - 6.8); peroxide, 22.21 – 27.41 meq/kg; acid value, 1.23 – 9.85 mg/KOH/g; and free fatty acid, 1.33 – 23.77 mg/KOH/g. Chrysophyllum albidum had the highest saponification value (210), The result showed that Chrysophyllum albidum had low levels of nutrients compared to the five melon seeds but it is a very good source of carbohydrates.