Browsing by Author "Bansah, Stanley"

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    Extraction and characterization of Borassus Aethiopum kernel oil
    (September, 2018) Bansah, Stanley
    Borassus aethiopum (African Palmyra palm) fruits are underutilized but have currently received a great attention in the search for alternative food sources to supplement the current food demands of the increasing world population. Borassus aethiopum fruits flour and other products have been produced successfully in previous works. However, the oil yield and characterization of oil from B. aethiopum kernel had not been evaluated. The main objective of this study therefore, was to extract and characterize the oil from B. aethiopum kernel. The fruit nuts were manually cracked with a machete to obtain the kernels. The kernels were chopped into smaller pieces, dried and milled using the hammer mill. Oil extraction was carried out using the Soxhlet apparatus with petroleum ether as the organic solvent. The physicochemical properties, oil yield and four fatty acids were determined by standard procedures. The results indicated an oil yield of 1.56%, a peroxide value of 49.85 ± 0.17 meqO2/Kg, iodine value of 167.00 ± 2.70 mg I2/g, saponification value of 196.69 ± 0.51 mgKOH/g and FFA of 9.56 ± 0.17%. Also, 6-methyl laurate was the highest among the four detected fatty acids in B. aethiopum kernel oil. Based on the yield obtained, commercial production of B. aethiopum fruit oil may not be economical.