ABSTRACT

The watermelon pods were obtained from Cementary Market Aba, Abia state. The seeds were manually selected from the pods, washed, oven dried and milled to obtain flour. The flour obtained from the three samples (deshelled, defatted and shell) was evaluated. Proximate composition and functional properties and statistical analysis were analysed. Results showed that moisture content of deshelled, defatted and shell samples were 9.12 ± 0.02, 8.92 ± 0.02 and 8,34 ± 0.01 respectively. Ash content of the samples were 4.72 ± 0.01, 5.64 ± 0.02 and 4.06 ± 0.01 respectively. Crude proteins were 28.76± 0.01, 20.16 ± 0.01 and 6.85 ± 0.01 respectively, the crude fibre were 6.80 ± 0.01, 5.20 ± 0.01 and 52.70 ± 0.01, ether extract were 44.60 ± 0.01, 3.92 ± 0.01 and 5.68 ± 0.01 respectively. There was no significant different in the emulsion capacities among the samples. This is an evident that deshelled samples with (18.60 + 0.01) could be used as an emulsifier due to its highest emulsion capacity. The water and oil absorption capacities and foam stability were excellent in the deshelled seed flours. The water and oil absorption capacities of deshelled samples were 3.64 ± 0.01 and 2.68 ± 0.01 respectively and foam stability of deshelled, defatted and shell samples were 6.67 ± 0.02, 6.36 ± 0.01 and 8.64 ± 0.02 respectively. The gelation temperatures of the samples were 79.00 ± 0.01, 80.00 ± 0.02 and 1.55 ± 0.02 respectively. The wettability was 1.20 ± 0.3, 1.32 ± 0.02 and 1.40 ± 0.02. The watermelon flour samples could be potentially added to food system such as bakery products and ground meat formulations not only as a nutrient but also as a functional agent in these formulations.