Evaluation of the nutritional and anti-nutritional factors composition of the seed coats of two species of Cucurbitaceae (cucumis melo L. and Cucumeropsis mannii Naudin) for their possible use in animal feed formulation

Abstract

Seed coats wastes produced during processing of Cucurbitaceae seed for human diet could be used in animal feed, and their value relies on their nutritional content. High dry mater (86.60 ± 0.54-87.26 ± 0.30%), carbohydrate (23.32 ± 0.36-25.19 ± 0.78%), protein (10.06 ± 0.01-18.81 ± 0.01%), lipid (14.51 ± 0.28-18.86 ± 0.86%), fibers (51.48 ± 0.24-60.87 ± 1.51%) and glutamic acid (5.65 ± 0.00-6.44 ± 0.00) were found in the seed coat of cucumis melo and Cucumeropsis mannii. Moreover, the high level of total phenolic content (150.30–207.36 mg GAE/100 g) may reveal important antioxidant properties of the seed coat. Levels of macro-elements such as Phosphorus (326.66 ± 15.27-400.00 ± 10.00 mg/100g), potassium (1931.44 ± 2.64-2206.00 ± 2.64 mg/100g), calcium (2941.00 ± 1.00-3596.00 ± 0.57mg/100g) and magnesium (54.50 ± 1.00-329.33 ± 0.57 mg/100g), and also micro-elements such as Iron (8.35 ± 0.00-9.50 ± 0.00 mg/100g), copper (4.54 ± 0.00-5.14 ± 0.00 mg/100g), manganese (5.71 ± 0.00-5.87 ± 0.00 mg/100g), sodium (14.21 ± 0.00-17.93 ± 0.00 mg/100g) and zinc (19.11 ± 0.00-24.57 ± 0.00 mg/100g) displayed the potential of the seed coats as mineral source. The presence of anti-nutrient like tannins (43.63 ± 0.48-57.73 ± 0.97%) and phytate (15.51 ± 0.51%) may be reduced to safe level through fermentation, autoclaving and soaking before feeds formulation. This study displayed the variability in the nutritional and anti-nutritional factors contents of the seed coats obtained from the cucumis melo and Cucumeropsis mannii. Vegetable waste, when properly managed, could provide a source of feed for animal thus reducing feeding cost and in this regards seed coat of Cucurbitaceae seed might be an alternative.