Determination of Nutritional Contents and Sensory Attributes of Two Cucumber Varieties Grown with Cow and Pig Dungs in Nsukka Soil
Keywords:
Cucumber, Cucumber Varieties, Nutritional Contents, Sensory Attributes, Cow dung, Pig Dung, Nsukka SoilAbstract
The study determined the nutritional contents and sensory attributes of two cucumber varieties grown with cow and pig dungs in Nsukka soil. Specifically, the study determined the effect of pig and cow dungs on the nutritional contents of cucumber varieties cultivated in Nsukka soil; and on the sensory attributes of cucumber varieties cultivated in Nsukka soil. The study adopted experimental research design. The study was carried out in University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State. The population for the study consisted of 40 cucumber fruits and 7 panel members for conducting the organoleptic evaluation. The 40 fruits were randomly assigned to four treatment groups- T1, T2, T3, and T4; and each treatment group was further replicated into three. The nutritional contents were determined in Food Science Laboratory, Department of Food Science Technology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Data analysis was carried out with Mean. The results revealed that T3 (that is Poinsett 76 cucumber variety grown with pig dung) recorded the best mean organoleptic attributes when compared to other treatment groups. T3 got the highest mean cucumber taste of 7.45, highest mean cucumber appearance of 8.19, and highest mean cucumber acceptability of 8.32 which indicated “like very much”. The result further showed that T3 performed best on the mean nutritional contents of cucumber with highest mean vitamin A content of 33.90 mg, highest mean vitamin C content of 3.50 mg, highest mean vitamin K content of 18.11 mg among others. Based on the result, the study concluded that pig dung may offer superior benefits in terms of enhancing the sensory appeal and nutritional contents of cucumbers compared to cow dung.Downloads
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