Parametric, physicochemical and fatty acids composition characterizations of oil extract from Telfairia occidentalis seed; an evolution of its industrial applications potentials

Telfairia occidentalis is a perennial crop that belongs to Cucurbitaceae family, with seeds that contains significant quantity of oil. Process parameters (time, temperature, and particle size) effects, physicochemical and fatty acid composition properties of extracted Telfairia occidentalis seed oil (TOSO) were studied. Oil yields of five different solvents (chloroform, ethanol, benzene, petroleum ether, and n-hexane) were studied to choose best solvent. Extraction yield, physicochemical properties and fatty acid composition of oil were determined using standards procedures. N-hexane produced highest yield of 49.98 wt%, at 55 °C, 150min, and 0.5 mm. Telfairia occidentalis seed oil (TOSO) properties results show viscosity, density, saponification and iodine values of 85.1 cP, 0.9386 gm ⁻³, 339.022 mgKOH/g and 149.294 g/I${}_2/100$g oil, respectively; with 19.3% saturated and 80.7% unsaturated fatty acids composition. In other words, physicochemical and fatty acids composition properties of the oil indicate its potential applications for a number of industrial purposes, like in biofuels production, especially biodiesel and biolubricant.