COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF THE PUMPKIN, CUCURBITA MAXIMA VARIETIES FROM DIFFERENT REGIONS IN KENYA

Abstract

The proximate analysis, evaluation of the nutritionally valuable minerals, β- carotene content, and the fattyacid profile of the pumpkin C. maxima were studied. The treatments comprised fresh fruits (fruit pulp) andwhole seed (flours). The results showed that proximate composition of the pumpkin pulp ranged between 75.8– 91.33 % moisture (fresh weight), 0.34 – 2 % crude ether extract, 0.2 – 2.7 % crude protein, 0.47 – 2.1 % crudefibre, 0.38 – 2.1 % crude ash and 3.1 – 13 % carbohydrate content (by difference). While those of the seedswere, 4.4 – 15.2 %, 31.28 – 43.35 %, 14 – 42 %, 11.21 – 24.98, 2.0 – 4.2 % and 6.7 – 30.5 % for the respectively,for the parameters above. The results indicate that the pumpkin seeds are rich sources of lipids, fibre andproteins. Physicochemical analysis of the extracted oil showed a high content of unsaturated fatty acids andthe three dominant fatty acids were palmitic 0.3 – 20.81 %, oleic 15.61 – 40.51 %, and linoleic acids 25.38 –79.61 %, the highest oil was linoleic acid i.e. it was the principal fatty acid. Fruits and seeds contained varyingamounts of potassium, magnesium, zinc, manganese, iron, calcium, copper and sodium. The highest elementalmineral was potassium while the lowest were copper and zinc, in overall the seed had a higher concentrationof minerals compared to the pulp. The fresh fruits had a β carotene content of the range between 9.15 to41.28 μg/g on fresh weight basis. The established superior nutritional composition of these pumpkinshighlighted their usefulness in terms of addressing nutritional deficiency particularly in Kenya and shouldtherefore be promoted due to their high nutritional value.