Abstract

Activities of some of the enzymes; enzyme inhibitors and antinutritional factors of the seeds ofLuffa aegyptiaca were investigated. Enzymes were extracted and their activities determined using standard procedures. The activities of trypsin and amylase inhibitors were also determined using standard procedures. While antinutritional factors were detemined using the AOAC method as well as standard procedures. The activies of β-amylase and phytase were low. High activities were observed in peroxidase and urease. While lipoxygenase exhbited the highest activity. Trypsin inhibitor had a higher activity than amylase inhibitor. The concentrations of phytic acid, lectins and tannnin levels were much higher compared to that of saponins. The highest concentration was observed in sapogenin. The observed amylase inhibitor activity may be responsible for the use of the seeds in the management of diabetes mellitus, however further work is needed in this area. Further work is also recommended on the separation of the sapogenin into its different components.

Key words: Lipoxygenase, β-amylase, trypsin, sapogenin.