A Comparative Evaluation of Proximate Compositions of Boiled and Fermented Underutilised Melon Seeds: An Approach towards Alternative Substrates for Indigenous Soup Flavouring

Comparative evaluation of proximate composition of five melon seed varieties (Citrullus vulgaris (CV), Citrullus lanatus (CL), Colocynthis citrullus (CC), Cucurbita pepo (CP), and Cucumeropsis edulis (CE) boiled and fermented is presented. Five undehulled melon seed varieties were sorted, cleaned, washed and boiled respectively in deep water for 3h, cooled and hand dehulled. The cotyledons were wrapped with blanched banana leaves (Musa sapientum), tied and pierced in three places with fork, boiled again for 2h, drained/cooled and allowed to undergo chance fermentation at room temperature for 96h. The fermented seeds were pounded to paste, wrapped with ofoala leave (Icecina trichantha) and left near a fire place for another 144h for a second fermentation. Thereafter, proximate compositions were analysed for the boiled and fermented pulp samples of the melon seed varieties as well as microbial load. Data obtained were analysed statistically at p<0.05 using SAS and WINDOW 7 for ANOVA and mean separation. Boiling slightly reduced the protein content of the melon seeds from the lowest 19.63% (CP) to highest (CE) 26.73%, when compared with raw melon seed samples; which were further reduced during first stage of fermentation (13.26-17.22%).However, an increase (17.22-22.86%) was observed during second stage of fermentation. Ash, crude fibre, carbohydrate and fat were slightly affected during boiling and fermentation respectively. A total of six (6) bacteria species were isolated in first stage of fermentation namely Bacillus sp., Enterococcus sp, Staphylococcus sp Micrococcus sp, Corynebacterium sp and Serratia sp in all the melon seed varieties. The results obtained in this research showed that these alternative melon seeds could also be used in the preparation of food flavourings.