Abstract

Omeh Yusuf S. , Ezeja Maxwell I. and Ugwudike Patrick O.

The physiochemical and fatty cid profile of the oil extracted from Irvingia gabonensis was determined. Soxhlet extraction method using n-hexane as solvent was employed for the extraction. The extraction process yielded 65% of oil. The physiochemical determination was done using standard method while fatty acid profile was done using Gas Chromatographic technique. The result of the study is as follows: Relative density (0.82), pH (6.19), Saponification value (182.3 mgKOH-1 ), Iodine value (4.17/100 g Fat), Peroxide value (3.02 mgEqKg-1 ). The fatty acid profile of the oil revealed the presence of six fatty acid fractions viz: C14:O(51.85%), C12:O(35.12%), C16:7.95%), C10:O(1.01%), C18:0(0.62%) and C18:1(2.99%).The overall result revealed that the oil is highly unsaturated and thus should not be consumed in high quantity by cardiovascular patients