The influence of season and fertilizer interaction on protein selleck kinase inhibitor and ash contents showed that the nutrient concentration was higher across fertilizer rates in the early season than the late season. The values were significantly lower than in the control when fertilizer application was above 100kg/ha both in the early and in the late seasons (Figures (Figures11 and and2).2). On the contrary, the carbohydrate content of pumpkin seeds was higher in late season than that in the early season (Figure 3).Figure 1Protein content of pumpkin seeds as affected by season by NPK fertilizer.Figure 2Ash contents of pumpkin seeds as affected by season by NPK fertilizer.Figure 3Carbohydrates content of pumpkin seeds as affected by season by NPK fertilizer interaction.
Table 1Combined analysis of variance showing means squares for protein, fat, ash, crude fibre, and carbohydrate contents of Pumpkin seed as influenced by Season and NPK fertilizer.Table 2Proximate composition of Pumpkin seeds as affected by season. Table 3Proximate composition of Pumpkin seeds as affected by NPK fertilizer levels.Antioxidant activities and its components in pumpkin seeds were significantly influenced by season and fertilizer. The interaction of season and fertilizer was significant on antioxidant activities, phenol, and proanthocyanidin (Table 4). Season had a greater influence on antioxidant activities of pumpkin seeds; however, flavonoid content was not significantly affected by season. Seasonal variation revealed higher values during the early season in all the determined profiles when compared to the late season.
The values in flavonoid were similar in both seasons (Table 5). Fertilizer influenced showed consistent decrease in values of antioxidant activities and its components as fertilizer rates increased. The control had significantly higher values than the values from the application of 150 to 250kg/ha. The addition of 50 and 100kg gave similar antioxidant activities and component values with the zero fertilization at 0.05 probability level (Table 6). The significant influence of interaction (season �� fertilizer) on antioxidant activities, phenol, and proanthocyanidin concentration showed that early season had higher values than late seasons across fertilizer rates. The concentration at both seasons was similar between the control and 50 kg and 100 kg fertilizer.
A significant reduction in values was found from 150 to 250kgNPK fertilizer rate application (Figures (Figures4,4, ,5,5, and and66).Figure 4Antioxidant activities of pumpkin seeds as affected by season by NPK fertilizer interaction.Figure 5Total Batimastat phenol and proanthocyanidin content of pumpkin seeds as affected by season by NPK fertilizer.Figure 6Proanthocyanidin content of pumpkin seeds as affected by season by NPK fertilizer.