Amino Acids and Essential Trace Elements of Four Snakegourd (Trichosanthes kirilowii Maxim) Seed Meals

This paper presented an analysis of the amino acids and the essential trace elements of cold-pressed snake gourd seed meals from four different producing areas. The ether extract, the mean crude ash and the mean crude protein of the snake gourd seed meals were 41.59%, 4.63% and 41.86%, respectively. The meals were rich in amino acids and the amino acids compositions of the meals were similar except the meals from Sichuan. The average content of essential and semi-essential amino acids was 47.5%. Among the amino acids of the meals, arginine had the highest content (17.3%) and lysine was the first restrictive amino acid. The snake gourd seed meals were rich in essential trace elements, especially Mn. The results suggested that snake gourd seed meals could be a good source of functional foods and nutriceuticals.