Abstract

Dry seeds from three indigenous cucurbits [Citrullus lanatus var. citroides (Thumb.) Matsum. & Nakai., Cucumeropsis mannii Naudin, and Cucumis melo var. agrestis L.] largely cultivated in Côte d’Ivoire and consumed as sauce thickeners were analyzed for their proximate composition and compared to a local landrace of peanut (Arachis hypogae L.). The protein contents were 29.23±1.74, 36±2.17, 29.55±2.09, and 24.79±0.44% for C. lanatus, C. mannii, C. melo, and A. hypo-gaea, respectively. The highest estimates of fat content was observed with C. lanatus (56.67±4.90%) followed in decreased order by the peanut (48.17±1.60%), C. mannii (45.89±4.73%),and C. melo (42.67±3.43%). The carbohydrate content for C. lanatus was 9.87±3.52% and C. mannii and C. melo had 13.86±3.64 and 23.18±4.80%, respectively. C. melo was then the highest in carbohydrate content whereas A. hypogaea has the lowest value (6.39±2.66%). The crude fibre contents for C. lanatus,C. mannii, and C. melo averaged 2.87±1.07, 2.30±0.85, and 2.94±0.75%, respectively. The three cucurbit species were markedly low in fibre value, compared to the analyzed peanut (17.14±3.82%). As expected on the basis of several published data, ash content of seeds from indigenous cucurbits was generally low: 1.33±0.52% (C. lanatus), 2.50±1.38% (C. mannii), and 1.67±0.82% (C. melo).

Key words: Ash, carbohydrate, cucurbits, fat (oil), fibre, protein