A Review on the Economic Uses of Species of Cucurbitaceae and Their Sustainability in Nigeria

Mercy Ajuru; Felicia Nmom

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14

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A Review on the Economic Uses of Species of Cucurbitaceae and Their Sustainability in Nigeria

Mercy Ajuru, Felicia Nmom

Published in American Journal of Plant Biology (Volume 2, Issue 1)

Received: 30 October 2016 Accepted: 25 November 2016 Published: 6 January 2017

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Abstract

The Cucurbitaceae family commonly known as the gourd family is an excellent example of a plant family with many economically useful species. They are native in most countries of the world, especially in the tropics, where they are cultivated in every country, state, and province. The Cucurbitaceae consists of many important food plants such as melon, pumpkin, squash, cucumber; useful plants for the production of items of utility such as bottle gourds, loofah, ornamental gourds, etc. Some species, example, bitter melon, cucumber, musk melon, etc are considered to have medicinal properties due to the presence of cucurbitacins, etc. Others such as Luffa, Cucurbita, etc are used as complementary dietary ingredient of feed for poultry and increasingly as a protein and vitamin supplement to aqua feeds. Members of this family such as Momordica, Cucurbita, Cucumis etc are also used as remedies for livestock. In addition, seed oil of melon is a source of biodiesel. This article briefly reviews the nutritional, medicinal, ethnoveterinary and ethnomedicinal value of these plants, as well as their uses as items of utility, complementary dietary ingredient for poultry and aquafeed and as a source of biodiesel. This is an attempt to compile and document information on the different uses of these plants and to recommend that increased in production of these plants will be profitable and will contribute to food security and livelihood sustainability in Nigeria.

Published in	American Journal of Plant Biology (Volume 2, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14
Page(s)	17-24
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Food Plants, Medicinal Plants, Ornamental Gourds, Cucurbita, Momordica, Poultry Feed

References

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Mercy Ajuru, Felicia Nmom. (2017). A Review on the Economic Uses of Species of Cucurbitaceae and Their Sustainability in Nigeria. American Journal of Plant Biology, 2(1), 17-24. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14

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ACS Style

Mercy Ajuru; Felicia Nmom. A Review on the Economic Uses of Species of Cucurbitaceae and Their Sustainability in Nigeria. Am. J. Plant Biol. 2017, 2(1), 17-24. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14

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AMA Style

Mercy Ajuru, Felicia Nmom. A Review on the Economic Uses of Species of Cucurbitaceae and Their Sustainability in Nigeria. Am J Plant Biol. 2017;2(1):17-24. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14

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@article{10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14,
  author = {Mercy Ajuru and Felicia Nmom},
  title = {A Review on the Economic Uses of Species of Cucurbitaceae and Their Sustainability in Nigeria},
  journal = {American Journal of Plant Biology},
  volume = {2},
  number = {1},
  pages = {17-24},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajpb.20170201.14},
  abstract = {The Cucurbitaceae family commonly known as the gourd family is an excellent example of a plant family with many economically useful species. They are native in most countries of the world, especially in the tropics, where they are cultivated in every country, state, and province. The Cucurbitaceae consists of many important food plants such as melon, pumpkin, squash, cucumber; useful plants for the production of items of utility such as bottle gourds, loofah, ornamental gourds, etc. Some species, example, bitter melon, cucumber, musk melon, etc are considered to have medicinal properties due to the presence of cucurbitacins, etc. Others such as Luffa, Cucurbita, etc are used as complementary dietary ingredient of feed for poultry and increasingly as a protein and vitamin supplement to aqua feeds. Members of this family such as Momordica, Cucurbita, Cucumis etc are also used as remedies for livestock. In addition, seed oil of melon is a source of biodiesel. This article briefly reviews the nutritional, medicinal, ethnoveterinary and ethnomedicinal value of these plants, as well as their uses as items of utility, complementary dietary ingredient for poultry and aquafeed and as a source of biodiesel. This is an attempt to compile and document information on the different uses of these plants and to recommend that increased in production of these plants will be profitable and will contribute to food security and livelihood sustainability in Nigeria.},
 year = {2017}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Review on the Economic Uses of Species of Cucurbitaceae and Their Sustainability in Nigeria
AU  - Mercy Ajuru
AU  - Felicia Nmom
Y1  - 2017/01/06
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14
T2  - American Journal of Plant Biology
JF  - American Journal of Plant Biology
JO  - American Journal of Plant Biology
SP  - 17
EP  - 24
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-8337
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14
AB  - The Cucurbitaceae family commonly known as the gourd family is an excellent example of a plant family with many economically useful species. They are native in most countries of the world, especially in the tropics, where they are cultivated in every country, state, and province. The Cucurbitaceae consists of many important food plants such as melon, pumpkin, squash, cucumber; useful plants for the production of items of utility such as bottle gourds, loofah, ornamental gourds, etc. Some species, example, bitter melon, cucumber, musk melon, etc are considered to have medicinal properties due to the presence of cucurbitacins, etc. Others such as Luffa, Cucurbita, etc are used as complementary dietary ingredient of feed for poultry and increasingly as a protein and vitamin supplement to aqua feeds. Members of this family such as Momordica, Cucurbita, Cucumis etc are also used as remedies for livestock. In addition, seed oil of melon is a source of biodiesel. This article briefly reviews the nutritional, medicinal, ethnoveterinary and ethnomedicinal value of these plants, as well as their uses as items of utility, complementary dietary ingredient for poultry and aquafeed and as a source of biodiesel. This is an attempt to compile and document information on the different uses of these plants and to recommend that increased in production of these plants will be profitable and will contribute to food security and livelihood sustainability in Nigeria.
VL  - 2
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Mercy Ajuru

Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Nigeria
Felicia Nmom

Ndele Campus, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

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Mercy Ajuru, Felicia Nmom. (2017). A Review on the Economic Uses of Species of Cucurbitaceae and Their Sustainability in Nigeria. American Journal of Plant Biology, 2(1), 17-24. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14

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ACS Style

Mercy Ajuru; Felicia Nmom. A Review on the Economic Uses of Species of Cucurbitaceae and Their Sustainability in Nigeria. Am. J. Plant Biol. 2017, 2(1), 17-24. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14

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AMA Style

Mercy Ajuru, Felicia Nmom. A Review on the Economic Uses of Species of Cucurbitaceae and Their Sustainability in Nigeria. Am J Plant Biol. 2017;2(1):17-24. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14,
  author = {Mercy Ajuru and Felicia Nmom},
  title = {A Review on the Economic Uses of Species of Cucurbitaceae and Their Sustainability in Nigeria},
  journal = {American Journal of Plant Biology},
  volume = {2},
  number = {1},
  pages = {17-24},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajpb.20170201.14},
  abstract = {The Cucurbitaceae family commonly known as the gourd family is an excellent example of a plant family with many economically useful species. They are native in most countries of the world, especially in the tropics, where they are cultivated in every country, state, and province. The Cucurbitaceae consists of many important food plants such as melon, pumpkin, squash, cucumber; useful plants for the production of items of utility such as bottle gourds, loofah, ornamental gourds, etc. Some species, example, bitter melon, cucumber, musk melon, etc are considered to have medicinal properties due to the presence of cucurbitacins, etc. Others such as Luffa, Cucurbita, etc are used as complementary dietary ingredient of feed for poultry and increasingly as a protein and vitamin supplement to aqua feeds. Members of this family such as Momordica, Cucurbita, Cucumis etc are also used as remedies for livestock. In addition, seed oil of melon is a source of biodiesel. This article briefly reviews the nutritional, medicinal, ethnoveterinary and ethnomedicinal value of these plants, as well as their uses as items of utility, complementary dietary ingredient for poultry and aquafeed and as a source of biodiesel. This is an attempt to compile and document information on the different uses of these plants and to recommend that increased in production of these plants will be profitable and will contribute to food security and livelihood sustainability in Nigeria.},
 year = {2017}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - A Review on the Economic Uses of Species of Cucurbitaceae and Their Sustainability in Nigeria
AU  - Mercy Ajuru
AU  - Felicia Nmom
Y1  - 2017/01/06
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14
T2  - American Journal of Plant Biology
JF  - American Journal of Plant Biology
JO  - American Journal of Plant Biology
SP  - 17
EP  - 24
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-8337
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20170201.14
AB  - The Cucurbitaceae family commonly known as the gourd family is an excellent example of a plant family with many economically useful species. They are native in most countries of the world, especially in the tropics, where they are cultivated in every country, state, and province. The Cucurbitaceae consists of many important food plants such as melon, pumpkin, squash, cucumber; useful plants for the production of items of utility such as bottle gourds, loofah, ornamental gourds, etc. Some species, example, bitter melon, cucumber, musk melon, etc are considered to have medicinal properties due to the presence of cucurbitacins, etc. Others such as Luffa, Cucurbita, etc are used as complementary dietary ingredient of feed for poultry and increasingly as a protein and vitamin supplement to aqua feeds. Members of this family such as Momordica, Cucurbita, Cucumis etc are also used as remedies for livestock. In addition, seed oil of melon is a source of biodiesel. This article briefly reviews the nutritional, medicinal, ethnoveterinary and ethnomedicinal value of these plants, as well as their uses as items of utility, complementary dietary ingredient for poultry and aquafeed and as a source of biodiesel. This is an attempt to compile and document information on the different uses of these plants and to recommend that increased in production of these plants will be profitable and will contribute to food security and livelihood sustainability in Nigeria.
VL  - 2
IS  - 1
ER  -

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