THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES AND FATTY ACIDS COMPOSITIONS OF FOUR SELECTED SPECIES OF MELON SEEDS (Citrullus lanatus, Cucumis sativa, Momordica charantia AND Cucumeropsis manni)

Cucurbitaceae has been an interesting and an outstanding family of dicotyledons. This study envisaged to reveal the fatty acid composition and economic potentials of oil extracted from melon seeds in Nigeria. This will enable the oils to be exploited by industry for alimentary purposes, with the eventual production and use of seed of Cucurbitaceae oils.

Fatty acids composition and physiochemical properties of three selected species of melon seeds (Citrullus lanatus, Cucumis sativa, Momordica charantia and Cucumeropsis manni) were investigated using standard procedures of Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) to determine the physiochemical properties of the oil samples, while the fatty acids compositions were determined using GC- MS (gas chromatography model 7890A mass spectrophotometer model VL5975C) and an injector (model 7683B). The pH values showed that there were significant differences among the species studied: Citrullus lanatus, Cucumis sativa, Momordica charantia and Cucumeropsis manni) (6.12 ± 0.12, 6.80 ± 0.01,5.56±0.01 and 6.30±0.01) respectively, but slightly acidic. The refractive index value obtained showed that there were no significant (p<0.05) differences amongst the samples (1.46± 0.01, 1.48 ± 0.01 and 1.47 ± 0.01, 1.48±0.01) respectively. There were significant (p>0.05) differences in the acid values of the four (8.96 ± 0.01, 5.01 ± 0.01, 2.24 ±0.01 and 5.48±0.01) respectively. The fatty acids profiles of these samples showed that palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid and linoleic acid are the main fatty acids present in the four samples. Cucumeropsis manni contained the highest percentage of Linoleic acid (53.62%) amongst the samples, while cucumis sativa contain percentage of stearic acid (35.86) while Momordica charantia contained highest percentage of stearic acid (44.03) and α-linolenic acid (20.38). This study revealed that the four samples of the cucurbitaceae seeds oil are rich in unsaturated fatty acids.