ISSN 2360-7971
Abstract
Accepted 20th March, 2018.
Oils are known to have important biological activities. The development in demand and different utilizations of oils foster the search for seed and vegetable oils that are of high quality to meet up with the developing rate of its demand worldwide. In this research, the extraction and physicochemical properties tests of the oil extracted from the seed of Balanites Aegyptiaca (Heglig tree) was carried out. The physical properties of the oil compares positively with those of the conventional vegetable and seed oils like groundnut oil, cotton seed oil and soybean oil among others. The results obtained showed 43% oil yield, light yellowcolour of the oil,agreeable odour,transparent liquid appearanceat room temperatures, 1.498 refractive index, 18.97 cp viscosity, 0.912 g/ml specific gravity, 1.51 mgKOH/g acid value, 1.21 meq/Kg peroxide value, 121.56 mg I2/g iodine value and 223.98 mgKOH/g saponification value. The acid value of the oil is lower than the maximum permissible acid level of 4mgKOH/g fat or oil required for edible virgin fats and oils and therefore it is suitable for consumption. High saponification value guarantees the use of the oils in cosmetics and soap making industry. This study shows that, heglig seeds oil is a good source of edible oil.
Keyword: Balanites Aegyptiaca, hegligtree seeds oil, physico-chemical properties.