Physicochemical Properties and Fatty Acids Composition of Sudanese Moringa oleifera Seed Oil

Abstract

Moringa oleifera is a robust and fast-growing tree considered as one of the most beneficialtrees worldwide since almost all parts of it are used as food, medicine, and for industrial purposes. Thisstudy aimed to investigate the physicochemical properties and fatty acid composition of M. oleifera seedoil. The oil was extracted by Soxhlet using n-hexane; the physicochemical properties of the seed oil wereassessed by standard and established methods, as well, the fatty acid composition of the seed oil wasdetermined by GC-MS. The golden yellow oil with characteristic odor obtained from the seeds had thefollowing physicochemical properties: yield, 42.87%; freezing point, 0 °C; melting point, 21 °C; boilingpoint, 225 °C; refractive index (25 °C), 1.447; iodine value, 96.6 g/100g of oil; peroxide value, 7.6meq.O2/kg of oil; free fatty acids, 0.07%; acid value, 1.4 mg of KOH/g of oil; saponification value, 185.2mg KOH/g of oil; unsaponifiable matter, 3.2; moisture and volatile value, 4.91 (wt.%); density, 0.900g/cm3; viscosity, 60.99 mm2/s; specific gravity, 0.907. The fatty acids composition showed that oleicacid (51.74%) was the major fatty acid and followed by behenic- (10.54%), palmitic- (9.20%), stearic-(8.46%), arachidic- (6.41%), gondic- (4.88%), lignoceric- (3.08%) and palmitoleic acid (2.85%).Therefore, more and advanced research should be undertaken for this abundant source of natural oil foredible oil and possible industrial applications.