Abstract Many plants have oil bearing seeds or fruits. Utilisation of oils from plants for food and non-food purposes is strongly related to their properties. This study investigates the physicochemical and fatty acid profiles of some fatty oils obtained from Nigerian underutilized oilseeds: beniseed, Moringa oleifera, kenaf (cuba variety), neem seed and their potential applications in food and non-food (cosmetics, industrial lubricants, resins and biofuel production).
The oilseeds were extracted with n-hexane by cold maceration and soxhlet extractor was used to recover residual oil. The physicochemical parameters were determined according to standard methods. The fatty acid composition was determined using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS).
From the results obtained, the percentage oil content was found to be 30.01, 35.34, 14.78, 30.7; acid value 2.8mgKOH/g, 1.4mgKOH/g, 3.8mgKOH/g and 1.6 mgKOH/g for beniseed, moringa, kenaf, and neem oils respectively. The predominant acid expressed as fatty acid methyl ester is oleic for moringa (82.9%), kenaf (46.8%) and neem (36. 5%) oil samples while beniseed oil is predominantly linoleic (41.97%). The iodine value which relates to degree of unsaturation is above100 for beniseed, kenaf and neem oils.
This suggests that beniseed, kenaf, and neem oils have potential as substitute for soya bean in alkyd resin production. Moringa oil is rich in monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) with iodine value of 76.7g I/100g).
The high saponification values of the samples (188-192) suggest their potential in cosmetics and soap production. The obtained results show that these oilseeds have very great industrial potentials in food and non-food utilization.
Keywords Beniseed, Fatty acid Kenaf, Moringa oleifera, Neem.