EXTRACTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CUCUMEROPSIS MANII SEED OIL

Abstract

The seeds of the cucumeropsis manii were collected from an uncultivated farm in Arondizuogu, Ideato-North, Imo State, Nigeria. The seeds were de-hulled and reduced to fine particle sizes by a manual grinding machine. The percentage of oil yield was found to be 45.60%. It was observed from our characterisations that the acid value, free fatty acid value, saponification value and iodine value were 0.49 mgKOH/g, 0.245 mgKOH/g, 191.58 mgKOH/g, and 123.19 mgI/g respectively. From the low acid value it can be observed that the oil can be used in the industry for the manufacture of pharmaceutical products and to produce edible fats, from its high saponification value, the oil can be used to manufacture soaps, while from the iodine value, it can be observed that the oil is a semi-drying oil and is appropriate for the production of paints, artificial rubber, etc. Other uses of the oil are in the production of chemicals, fuels, biodiesels etc.