Compositional, Mass-Volume-Area Related and Mechanical Properties of Sponge Gourd (Luffa aegyptiaca) Seeds

Figures & data

Figure 1 (a) Some typical Nigeria grown sponge gourd fruits. (b) De-skinned sponge gourd fruits.

Figure 2 Sponge gourd seeds (a) whole seeds; and (b) dehulled seeds.

Figure 3 Physical dimension of Sponge gourd pods (l = length; a = minor diameter and b = major diameter).

Figure 4 Linear measurement of whole and dehulled sponge gourd seeds, where, L: length; W: width; T: thickness of the whole seed; l: Length, w: width; and t: thickness of the dehulled seed.

Table 1 Linear dimension, mass and seed count of sponge gourd fruit

Serial no	l (mm)	a (mm)	b (mm)	m (g)	Number of seeds per fruit
1	168	47.00	53.50	24.51	93
2	194	49.50	60.34	47.42	108
3	163	52.50	55.74	22.57	53
4	223	54.00	67.74	46.53	202
5	136	29.88	46.84	9.65	27
6	190	48.78	56.00	30.68	193
7	135	41.61	49.53	17.29	140
8	165	43.76	46.38	20.36	174
9	197	40.22	50.68	20.38	165
10	108	37.38	40.82	8.39	60
11	149	34.16	49.76	15.66	84
12	196	48.28	57.00	34.79	162
13	175	40.50	50.10	26.10	208
14	153	45.50	59.54	21.60	204
15	224	54.84	43.00	48.89	265
16	123	37.80	46.20	14.10	103
17	152	44.50	48.86	18.52	133
18	140	40.00	51.20	14.53	78
19	139	41.20	45.50	21.80	149
20	178	36.14	47.20	25.20	190
21	130	30.00	59.62	14.84	54
22	264	45.62	58.50	44.72	183
23	189	36.80	51.74	17.11	53
24	167	49.92	59.48	27.36	106
25	216	45.00	55.96	44.58	213
26	203	50.00	46.34	42.27	214
27	150	38.20	50.00	23.69	50
28	160	42.38	58.26	20.91	186
29	220	45.18	54.00	35.78	170
30	119	22.64	40.02	22.50	197
31	155	39.78	44.14	25.52	200
32	130	37.68	39.50	14.45	120
33	213	38.50	53.26	31.00	184
34	206	36.18	55.48	30.54	162
35	146	34.50	50.50	17.06	54
36	166	40.00	51.80	21.91	101
37	118	33.15	49.35	6.80	30
38	189	33.65	51.50	22.97	90
39	233	40.65	58.10	35.41	168
40	170	39.62	52.65	22.60	113
41	212	29.65	52.80	22.67	78
42	215	36.85	55.10	31.35	210
43	265	49.60	59.00	49.28	236
44	247	38.75	59.40	31.17	183
45	198	44.50	50.25	28.20	188
46	151	38.55	40.75	13.48	140
47	205	35.15	63.30	34.04	200
48	164	33.45	46.00	13.31	148
49	183	40.10	54.10	33.70	106
50	238	44.30	58.90	52.61	99
Mean±sd	178.60 ± 38.88	40.76 ± 6.73	52.11 ± 6.31	26.42 ± 11.54	140.54 ± 60.17
Min.	108	22.64	39.50	6.80	27
Max.	265	54.84	67.74	52.61	265
l: length, a: minor diameter, b: major diameter, m: mass; and sd: standard deviation.

Table 2 Proximate composition of sponge gourd kernels (g/100 g of sample)

Crude protein	Ether extract	Crude fiber	CHO	Ash	Moisture content
33.38 ± 0.62	39.11 ± 0.20	2.65 ± 0.32	13.50 ± 0.38	5.07 ± 0.27	9.83 ± 0.43
Mean of three replicates ± standard deviations.

Table 3 Fatty acid composition of oil expressed from sponge gourd kernels

Saturated fats	% Composition
Lauric	0.92
Stearic	31.03
Palmitic	3.95
Myristic	6.59
Arachidic	negligible
Behemic	negligible
Lignocenic	negligible
Total	42.49
Unsaturated fats per gram of oil	% composition
Oleic	0.50
Linolenic	6.90
Linoleic	50.1
Palmitoleic	negligible
Total	57.51

Figure 5 Frequency distribution of sponge gourd seeds dimensions.

Table 4 Mass-Volume-Area related properties of sponge gourd whole and dehulled seeds

Property	Number of replicates	Whole seeds at 8.44% moisture (wb)	Dehulled seeds at 9.83% moisture (w.b.)
Axial dimension, mm
Length, a	100	9.60 ± 0.62	6.99 ± 0.38
Width, b	100	6.17 ± 0.43	4.31 ± 0.32
Thickness, l	100	1.59 ± 0.20	0.79 ± 0.27
Equivalent Diameter, mm	100	4.53 ± 0.27	2.84 ± 0.39
Aspect ratio	100	0.64 ± 0.05	0.62 ± 0.05
Sphericity	100	0.47 ± 0.03	0.41 ± 0.06
Roundness	20	0.79 ± 0.07	0.80 ± 0.11
Surface area, cm^2	20	0.59 ± 0.08	0.33 ± 0.02
Mass, g	100	0.08 ± 0.01	0.04 ± 0.01
True density, g/cm^3	5	0.50 ± 0.02	0.93 ± 0.07
Bulk density, g/cm^3	5	0.43 ± 0.02	0.57 ± 0.012
Porosity,%		13.98	38.50
mean ± standard deviations.

Table 5 Distribution of sponge gourd seeds by size and mass

	Size distribution
Particulars	Ungraded	Small	Medium	Large
Length of seed, mm	8.05–11.2	L≤9	9<L≤10	L>10
Percent of sample
by number,%	100	17	53	30
by mass,%	100	16.95	52.33	30.72
Average dimensions
Seed
Length (L), mm	9.60 ± 0.62	8.70 ± 0.27	9.48 ± 0.23	10.32 ± 0.31
Width (W), mm	6.17 ± 0.43	5.99 ± 0.42	6.09 ± 0.39	6.41 ± 0.41
Thickness(T),mm	1.59 ± 0.2	1.56 ± 0.22	1.58 ± 0.21	1.61 ± 0.18
Mass (M), g	0.08 ± 0.01	0.08 ± 0.01	0.08 ± 0.01	0.08 ± 0.01
Kernel
Length (l), mm	6.99 ± 0.40	6.49 ± 0.39	6.94 ± 0.07	7.40 ± 0.16
Width (w), mm	4.31 ± 0.32	4.12 ± 0.29	4.37 ± 0.32	4.30 ± 0.31
Thickness (t), mm	0.79 ± 0.27	0.70 ± 0.29	0.78 ± 0.31	0.84 ± 0.17
Mass (m), g	0.04 ± 0.01	0.04 ± 0.01	0.04 ± 0.01	0.04 ± 0.01
Mean ± standard deviations.

Table 6 Correlation of sponge gourd whole and dehulled seeds dimension

Ratio.	Mean	Max	Min	Correlation
L/W	1.56 ± 0.12	1.83	1.21	0.38
L/T	6.16 ± 0.88	9.27	4.15	0.03
L/M	122.7 ± 15.61	176.91	88.57	0.09
l/w	1.63 ± 0.14	2.2	1.32	0.14
l/t	10.11 ± 4.5	27.88	3.7	0.01
l/m	164.69 ± 31.47	255.02	105.6	−0.01
L/l	1.37 ± 0.12	1.66	1.01	0.97
W/w	1.44 ± 0.16	1.86	1.09	0.06
T/t	2.28 ± 1.02	5.62	0.82	0.04
M/m	1.85 ± 0.37	2.89	1.2	0.03
Mean ± standard deviations.

Table 7 Frictional properties of sponge gourd whole and dehulled seeds

Property	Seed	Kernel
Coefficient. of Friction
Wood	0.50 ± 0.01	0.55 ± 0.02
Aluminum	0.59 ± 0.03	0.66 ± 0.04
Galvanized steel	0.64 ± 0.01	0.68 ± 0.03
Mild steel	0.70 ± 0.03	0.76 ± 0.02
Angle of repose (°)	23.8 ± 2.09	32.8 ± 2.59
Mean ± standard deviations.