Comparative Amino Acid Compositions of Curculigo pilosa Root and Citrullus colocynthis Fruit Bark

The study evaluated comparative amino acids compositions of Curculigo pilosa roots and Citrullus colocynthis fruit bark. The amino acids compositions were determined using amino acid analyzer. The results of amino acid compositions showed that eighteen amino acids were detected in both samples. Ten of the detected amino acids were essential amino acids and eight were non-essential. Glumatic acid had the highest concentration of 11.20 and 11.98 g/100g protein in Curculigo pilosa roots and Citrullus colocynthis fruits respectively. Leucine was the second highest concentrated amino acid in Curculigo pilosa roots and Citrullus colocynthis fruits with the values of 8.17 and 7.24 g/100g protein respectively. Histidine was the third highest amino acid in Curculigo pilosa roots while Citrullus colocynthis fruits had very low histidine level. The fourth highest amino was arginine in both samples. The percentage coefficient of variance (CV %) of the amino acid values were generally low with the exception of histidine with CV % value of 88.98 while rest of CV % values ranged from 0-26.92 showing the closeness of the amino acid values in the two samples to each other. Total amino acids (TAA) for Curculigo pilosa roots and Citrullus colocynthis fruits were 78.92 and 72.47 g/100g protein while the total essential amino acids (TEAAs) of Curculigo pilosa roots and Citrullus colocynthis fruits are 41.21 and 34.04 g/100g protein respectively. Percentage cysteine in (total sulphur amino acids) TSAA were 22.52 and 30.32 g/100g protein for Curculigo pilosa roots and Citrullus colocynthis fruits respectively. The results of this study indicate that Curculigo pilosa roots and Citrullus colocynthis fruits are rich in essential amino acid while their % Cysteine/TSAA values were relatively low.