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Journal of Applied Sciences

Year: 2015 | Volume: 15 | Issue: 8 | Page No.: 1073-1082
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Authors

V.E. Efeovbokhan

F.K. Hymore

D. Raji

S.E. Sanni

Keywords

Research Article

Alternative Solvents for Moringa oleifera Seeds Extraction

V.E. Efeovbokhan, F.K. Hymore, D. Raji and S.E. Sanni
Moringa oleifera is a versatile plant and has wide applicability. Two critical factors that make the oil more readily available for use are its ease of processing techniques and production rate. Solvent extraction using various solvents is common and is usually more efficient than mechanical presses. Hence investigating the suitability of three solvents-hexane, Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) and Petroleum Ether (PE) in the extraction of moringa seeds from northern (sample 1) and southern (sample 2) parts of Nigeria was carried out using a soxhlet extractor between 2 and 12 h. The percentage yield of oil from the two samples was found to be dependent on the solvent used, the residence time and the source of the seed sample. Petroleum ether gave the highest yield of 49.38 and 37.57%, next was hexane with 44.94 and 34.71% while isopropyl alcohol gave 36.39 and 28.43%, for samples 1 and 2, respectively. For all solvents, sample 1 produced higher oil yield. The percentage oil yield increased with time reaching an optimum at between 8-10 h. From chromatographic analysis, besides other trace components, the predominant fatty acids present in the Moringa oleifera oil include oleic, stearic, palmitic, linoleic and palmitoleic acids. The overall composition of the oil indicated higher levels of unsaturated than saturated acids with oleic acid having the highest percentage composition of 68.8% in all the extracted oil samples. The results obtained from this investigation showed that the alternative solvents (IPA and PE) considered can potentially substitute n-hexane in Moringa oilseed extraction.
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