ISSN: 2578-4986
Authors: Sodimu AI*
Proximate and medicinal utilization of watermelon (Citrillus lanatus) was examined in different parts of Kaduna Southern Guinea Savanna of Nigeria. Two hundred (200) questionnaires were randomly administered and one hundred and eighty-five (185) were retrieved. The results showed that watermelon can be used in the treatment and prevention of various diseases such as eye problems, skin disease, hypertension; reduce formation of kidney stones, renal stones, urinary stones, cough and catarrh, tuberculosis and many more. Majority (33.5%) of the respondents used grinding methods in preparing the seeds before use and the herbal mixture prepared are consumed fresh. The result of the proximate analysis showed that the seed contains 89.46% dry matter, 59.4% carbohydrate, 13.56% protein, 9.24% lipids. Other compositions in the seed are ash content (7.49%), crude fibre (8.81%). Demographic characteristics of the respondents were also examined. The percentage of male was 48.1% while that of female was 51.9%. Majority (52%) of the respondents is aged between 31 – 40 years and 53.5% are married. 54.6% of the respondents had secondary education while 86% had no formal education and majority (46.5%) is traditional healers. It is however recommended that agroforestry practices should be encouraged in the local government areas. Consequently, it must be ensured that watermelon fruits be the agricultural crop to be incorporated into the system for sustainability of the medicinal uses of the plant.
Keywords: Watermelon; Medicinal Utilization; Proximate; Kaduna State
