Proximate and Mineral Compositions of Seeds of some Conventional and Non Conventional Fruits in Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

The proximate and mineral composition of water melon, bitter melon, pawpaw, guava and cherry seeds were carried out; these sample seeds were obtained from discards of plants and prepared for use by decocting, sun drying and grinding into powder. Using petroleum ether; of boiling range 40-60oC, their fats were extracted, the protein content, ash content, crude fibre, moisture, carbohydrate as well as the mineral contents were determined using standard methods. The fats yield of 44.00±0.04, 34.00±0.00, 26.01±0.00, 19.01±0.02 and 13.00±0.01% were obtained for water melon, bitter melon, pawpaw, guava and cherry seeds samples respectively. From this result, water melon and bitter melon seeds can be regarded as oil seeds. The mineral compositions determination of the samples showed that water melon had the highest mineral compositions which were 14.46±0.00, 7.37±0.20, 28.87±0.10 and 12.25±0.01 mg/100g for potassium, calcium, iron and copper respectively while cherry seed had the least values.