Effects of chemical purification on the fatty acid composition of Cairca papaya and Citrus sinensis seeds oils

Abstract

The oils of Citrus sinensis (CS) and Carica papaya (CP) seeds were extracted with soxhlet extractor apparatus using n-hexane as the solvent. The oils were concentrated by distillation and degummed with water and phosphoric acid, which was thereafter neutralized. Gas chromatography flame ionization detector (GC-FID) was used to determine fatty acid fraction (FAF). The prominent acids in the crude and refined oils of Carica papaya seed were oleic acid (74.5 %), (75.0 %), palmitic acid (12.1 %), (12.3 %), stearic acid (5.9 %), (5.6 %) and Linoleic acid (4.3 %), (4.1 %) respectively. The major fatty acids obtainable in Citrus sinensis sample were oleic acid (62.8 %), (63.4 %), palmitic acid (25.3 %), (24.3 %), stearic acid (7.2 %), (7.5 %) and Linoleic acid (3.4 %), (3.6 %) for crude and refined oils respectively. The statistical test results revealed that there was no significant difference in the values for the crude and refined oils. Thus, the purification processes (degumming and neutralization) did not affect the percentage fatty acid fractions of the oil but only reduced the phospholipid contents.

Keywords: Soxhlet extractor, degumming, GC-FID, phospholipid and Fatty acid fraction