Cereal Chem 55:766 - 772.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Nutritive Value of Buffalo Gourd Seed Protein.

M. Tu, W. D. Eustace, and C. W. Deyoe. Copyright 1978 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Buffalo gourd (Cucurbita foetidissima) seeds are rich in protein and oil and could be grown for food in arid lands. Buffalo gourd seed flour (70% protein) was prepared and its nutritive value studied by rat growth, protein efficiency ratio (PER), and comparisons with soybean protein and casein. The limiting essential amino acids were studied by supplementing diets deficient in amino acids with lysine, threonine, methionine, and isoleucine. Differences between soybean meal protein and gourd seed protein were not significant (P less than 0.05). Supplementing gourd seed protein with lysine and threonine gave highly significant growth response. PER was similar to that of casein.