Abstract: Human nutrition recently has mainly focused on animal products particularly processed products with large amounts of various synthetic additives. The benefit of fruits and vegetables for human health has been already shown and consumer interest in organic food products has increased. Therefore the main aim of this research work was to determine the amino acid content of the following organically grown raw alternative products: the pumpkins Cucurbita maxima Duchesne - 'Stofuntovaja', 'Bmbino', 'Kroska'; Cucurbita moschata (Duchesne) Duchesne ex Poir. - 'Zemciuzina'; Cucurbita pepo L. - 'Miranda', 'Golosemiannaja', 'Herakles' and Jerusalem artichokes (Helianthus tuberosus L) - 'Swojecki', 'Rubik', 'Albik'. After harvest they were analyzed in order to estimate their amino acid composition. Amino acids were separated by the method of ion-exchange chromatography and detected photometrically with an automatic analyzer of amino acids Mikrotechna AAA 339. The amount of essential amino acids was highest in Jerusalem artichokes. The largest concentration of individual essential amino acids, depended on cultivar, was arginine 8.41 to 9.57 g kg(-1) in Jerusalem artichokes; while in Pumpkins this was leucine, which ranged from - 3.6-1.09 g kg(-1). The pumpkin 'Bambino' cv. had the highest content of all essential amino acids compared with other pumpkins. Jerusalem artichokes of the 'Albik' cv. were exceptionally high in amounts of nonessential glutamate and pumpkins of 'Golosemiannaja' cv. in aspartate amino acid, respectively 11.09 and 12.99 g kg(-1). The essential to total amino acids ratio is higher in Jerusalem artichoke tubers compared with Pumpkin pulp.
Reference: Aleknaviciene, P., et. al. (2009). Amino acid profile of organically grown alternative agricultural producers. Agronomy Research 7(2) Special Issue: 562-571.