The buffalo gourd (Cucurbita foetidissima), a xerophytic gourd indigenous to the southwestern United States, has been touted a potential food source, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Protein isolates from seeds of the gourd were prepared according to sophisticated laboratory and rudimentary village procedures. Prior to preparation of the isolates, levels of trypsin inhibitors, lectins, phytates and flatulent oligosaccharides were measured in defatted, hulled seed. These compounds exist, in xerophytic and domestic squashes, in similar or reduced amounts relative to soybean meal and should pose no noxious threat to the food quality of the protein isolates. The efficacy of protein extraction by a monovalent extractant, sodium hydroxide, was compared to a divalent solvent, calcium hydroxide. These species of protein isolates were compared to isolate prepared, in a similar manner, from seeds of Hubbard squash (Cucurbita maxima), a domestic squash. Chemical analyses indicated sodium hydroxide was the most effective extractant, regardless of procedure or species. Protein content was greater in the laboratory procedure, but amino acid levels were comparable in both laboratory and village processes, in both cucurbit species. Lysine and threonine were found to be limiting amino acids in the isolates compared to the FAO provisional pattern. The amino acid patterns of cucurbit protein isolates were comparable to those of sunflower, safflower and flax but inferior to soybean and rapeseed isolates. When the village procedure, sodium hydroxide extraction, was expanded to a large-scale operation, permitting the production of ample quantities of isolate for animal studies, the amino acid profile became more deficient. The large-scale extraction process was less effective in extracting a high quality protein, albeit the protein and fat content were comparable to the small-scale procedure. Biological evaluation, e.g., total weight gain and PER, of these protein isolates revealed the cucurbit protein isolates were minimally effective as a protein source, whether as a supplementation to sorghum and millet diets or as a sole source of protein. Chemical scores support these conclusions.

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Salt-soluble proteins of Apodanthera undulata, Cucurbita digitata, C. foetidissima, C. moschata, C. palmeri and C. sororia, were isolated from the decorticated seeds. The isoelectric focusing pattern of A. undulata was divided into two groups, the first falling between pH 4.43 to 5.48 and consisting of six distinct peaks. The pattern of C. digitata consisted of three groups of six, two and three peaks falling in the pH ranges of 5.19 to 6.14, 6.48 to 7.00 and 7.14 to 7.89, respectively. The pattern for C. foetidissima was divided into three groups of four, two and three peaks which fell in the pH ranges 4.82 to 5.82, 6.38 to 6.86 and 7.00 to 8.00, respectively. The patterns of C. palmeri and C. sororia were virtually identical, with two groups of eight and five peaks which fell in the pH range 4.54 to 5.72 and 6.24 to 7.77, respectively. The C. moschata pattern showed three groups of seven, seven and five peaks in the pH range 5.00 to 5.91, 6.00 to 7.00 and 7.24 to 8.29, respectively. On electrophoresis the globulins of all five Cucurbita species displayed six distinct bands with the same relative mobilities, while the globulin pattern of A. undulata was quite different. There was no similarity among the patterns of the Cucurbita albumins, and none resembled that of A. undulata. Two-dimensional analysis of the salt-soluble extracts showed similarity among the five Cucurbita species and differences from A. undulata with respect to the relative mobilities of the resolved bands. Molecular weight determination by gel filtration, resulted in resolution of each globulin fraction into four peaks except that of C. moschata, which was resolved into five peaks. Molecular weight values ranged from 12,000 to 660,000. Each albumin fraction was resolved into three peaks except that of A. undulata which possessed four peaks. The molecular weight values ranged from 11,000 to 446,000.

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Thesis (doctoral)--University of Chicago, 1930. / "Part of a dissertation ..." Includes bibliographical references (p. 31-32).

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