JournalofFoodTechnology

Year:2009|Volume:7|Issue:3|PageNo.:5965
CharacterizationofMoringaoleiferaSeedOilVarietyCongoBrazzaville
J.M.Nzikou,L.Matos,J.E.Moussounga,C.B.Ndangui,A.Kimbonguila,Th.Silou,M.LinderandS.Desobry
Abstract: The oil from Moringa oleifera seeds variety CongoBrazzaville was extracted using two oils extraction
methodswithpetroleumether(Soxlhet)andextractionwithamixtureofchloroform:methanol(1:1)(BlyeandDyer).Theoils
werecomparedofMoringaoleiferaothercountries.Theoilconcentrationrangedfrom38.5%(Soxlhet)to40%(BlyeandDyer).
The minerals, viscosity, acidity, saponification value, iodine value, fatty acid methyl esters, unsaponifiable matter content,
peroxidevalue,activationenergyanddifferentialscanningcalorimetryweredetermined.Moringaoleiferaseedshaveashcontent
of4.2%(withthepresenceoffollowingminerals:Ca,K,NaandMg).Theoilwasfoundtocontainhighlevelsofunsaturated
fattyacids,especiallyoleic(upto74.93%).Thedominantsaturatedacidswerepalmitic(upto6.44%)andbehenic(upto5.33%).
Moringaoleifera seedswerealsofoundedtocontainhighlevelsofcrudeprotein(37.6%).Theoilextractsexhibitedgood
physicochemicalpropertiesandcouldbeusefulasedibleoilsandforindustrialapplications.
INTRODUCTION
MoringaoleiferabelongstotheMoringaceaefamilyandMoringagenus,thebestknownandmostwidelydistributedspecies
(Morton,1991;SenguptaandGupta,1970).ThereareafewknownvarietiesnamelyJaffna,ChauakacheriMurunga,Chem,Kadu,
Palmurungai,Periyakulam1(PKM1)(Tsaknisetal.,1998)andPeregrina(Somalietal.,1984).Theedibleoilwasextracted,
wherethetreeiscultivatedbyboilingtheseedswithwaterandcollectingtheoilfromthesurfaceofthewater(Somalietal.,
1984).Theseedoilcontainsallthefattyacidscontainedinoliveoil,exceptlinoleicandwasusedasitsacceptablesubstitute
(Morton,1991).MoringaoleiferaCongo,Brazzavilleisaselectionoflocaltypesandispropagatedonlybyseed.Untilnowafull
characterizationoftheoilproducedfromtheseedsofMoringaoleiferaCongoBrazzavillehasnotbeenreported.Additionally,
theuseofdifferentmethodsofextractionandtheireffectonthecompositionandthecharacteristicsoftheoilhasnotbeen
investigated.Theoilwascomparedtovirginoliveoil.
Also,thecharacteristicsofMoringaoleiferaseedoilcanbehighlydesirableespeciallywiththecurrenttrendofreplacing
polyunsaturatedvegetableoilswiththosecontaininghighamountsofmonounsaturatedacids(Corbett,2003).Higholeicacid
vegetableoilshavebeenreportedtobeverystableeveninhighlydemandingapplicationslikefrying(WarnerandKnowlton,
1997).Thepresscakeobtainedafteroilextractionhaspositivelychargedproteinmoleculesthathavecoagulantproperties
(Sutherlandetal.,1994).Thesepropertieshavebeenexploitedinwaterclarificationandwastewatertreatments.Previousstudies
onMoringaoleiferahavebeenfocusedonitsmedicinalusesandnutritionalaspectsofthetreeparts(Lowell,1999)andonthe
useoftheseedintheclarificationofwastewaterduringtreatment(Folkardetal.,1993);however,littleornostudieshavebeen
doneontheoilproperties,suchasthetriacylglycerolprofilesandotherphysicochemicalpropertiesapartfromthefattyacid
composition.Inthisstudy,somephysicalandchemicalpropertiessuchasthermalbehaviorandtriacyglycerolprofilewere
determinedfollowingextractionusingsoxlhetandmethanolchloroformmethods.
MATERIALSANDMETHODS
MatureMoringaoleiferapodswerecollectedfromneighborhoodgardensaroundUniversityCampusMarienNgouabiof
Brazzaville.Theseedswereremovedfromthepods,sortedandsundried.Onlyseedsthatwerenotdamagedwerechosenand
storedundercooldrystorageconditionsuntilneeded.
ProximateanalysisofMoringaoleiferaseedMoisture,crudeprotein(microKjeldahl),crudefiberandoil(Soxhlet)contentswere
determinedusingthemethodsdescribedbyPearson(1976),whereas,theashcontentwasdeterminedusingthemethodof
PomeranzandMeloan(1994)andtotalcarbohydratewasdeterminedbydifference.Alldeterminationsweredoneintriplicate.
Oilextraction:DriedM.oleiferaseedsweregroundinaMoulinexmodelSeBPREP'LINE850(Moulincafe).Forsolvent
extraction(Soxlhetmethod),50gofgroundseedswereplacedintoacellulosepaperconeandextractedusinglightpetroleum
ether(bp4060C)ina5LSoxhletextractorfor8h(Penaetal.,1992).Theoilwasthenrecoveredbyevaporatingoffthesolvent
usingrotaryevaporatormodelN1(Eyela,TokyoRikakikalCo.,Ltd.,Japan)andresidualsolventwasremovedbydryinginan
ovenat60Cfor1handflushingwith99.9%nitrogen.Formethanol/chloroformextraction,100gofthegroundseedswere
homogenizedwithachloroformmixture:methanol(1:1)andwater.Twophaseswasobtained,aqueouslayer(methanolwater)and
organiclayer(chloroform).Oilwasrecoveredbyevaporatingoffthesolvent(chloroform)usingrotaryevaporatormodelN1
(Eyela,TokyoRikakikalCo.,Ltd.,Japan)andresidualsolventwasremovedbydryinginanovenat60Cfor1handflushing
with99.9%nitrogenAllexperimentsweredoneintriplicatesandthemeanandstandarddeviationswerecalculated.
Physicalandchemicalanalysisofcrudeoil
Thermalbehaviour:Thethermalpropertyoftheoilsampleswasinvestigatedbydifferentialscanningcalorimetryusinga
PerkinElmerDiamondDSC(Norwalk,USA).Theinstrumentwascalibratedusingindiumandzinc.Thepurgegasusedwas

99.99%nitrogenwithaflowrateof100mLmin1andapressureof20psi.Sampleweightsrangedfrom57mgandwere
subjectedtothefollowingtemperatureprogram:frozenoilsamplewasheatedat50Cinanovenuntilcompletelymelted.Oil
samplewasplacedinanaluminumvolatilepanandwascooledto50Candheldfor2min,itwasthenheatedfrom50to50C
attherateof5Cmin1(normalrate)(CheManandSwe,1995)and10Cmin1(pastrate)andheld50Cisothermallyfor2min
andcooledfrom50to50Cattherateof5Cmin1.Theheatingandcoolingthermogramforthenormalandthefast(hyper
DSC)scanrateswererecordedandtheonset,peakandoffsettemperaturesweretabulated.Thesevaluesprovideinformationon
thetemperatureatwhichthemeltingprocessstarts,thetemperatureatwhichmostoftheTAGhavemeltedandthecomplete
meltingtemperatureoftheoil,respectively.
Viscositymeasurements:ArheometerasdescribedbyNzikouetal.(2007)wasusedtomeasurethedifferentoilviscosities.By
thisprocedure,aconcentriccylindersystemissubmergedintheoilandtheforcenecessarytoovercometheresistanceofthe
viscositytotherotationismeasured.Theviscosityvalue(mPas)isautomaticallycalculatedonthebasisofthespeedandthe
geometryoftheprobe.Temperature(20C)wascontrolledwithawaterbathconnectedtotherheometer.Theexperimentwas
carriedoutbyputting3mLofsampleinaconcentriccylindersystemusing100secasshearrate.
Chemicalanalysis:Determinationsforperoxide,iodineandsaponificationvalues,unsaponifiablematterandfreefattyacid
contentswerecarriedoutusingPenaetal.(1992)standardanalyticalmethods.Thefattyacidcompositionwasdeterminedby
conversionofoiltofattyacidmethylesterspreparedbyadding950Lofnhexane50mgofoilfollowedby50Lofsodium
methoxideusingthemethodofCocksandVanRede(1966).Themixtureswerevortexfor5secandallowedtosettlefor5min.
Thetoplayer(1L)wasinjectedintoagaschromatograph(modelGC14A,ShimadzuCorporation,Kyoto,Japan)equippedwith
aflameionizationdetectorandapolarcapillarycolumn(BPX700.25),0.32mminternaldiameter,60mlengthand0.25mfilm
thickness(SGEIncorporated,USA)toobtainindividualpeaksoffattyacidmethylesters.Thedetectortemperaturewas240C
andcolumntemperaturewas110Cheldfor1minandincreasedattherateof8Cmin1to220Candheldfor1min.Therun
timewas32min.Thefattyacidmethylesterspeakswereidentifiedbycomparingtheirretentiontimewiththoseofstandards.
Percentrelativefattyacidwascalculatedbasedonthepeakareaofafattyacidspeciestothetotalpeakareaofallthefattyacids
intheoilsample.Themineralsweredeterminedbyatomicabsorptionspectrophotometry.Onegramsamplesintriplicate,were
dryashedinamufflefurnaceat550Cfor8huntil,awhiteresidueofconstantweightwasobtained.Themineralswereextracted
fromashbyadding20.0mLof2.5%HCl,heatedinasteambathtoreducethevolumetoabout7.0mLandthiswastransferred
quantitativelytoa50mLvolumetricflask.Itwasdilutedtovolume(50mL)withdeionisedwater,storedincleanpolyethylene
bottlesandmineralcontentsdeterminedusinganatomicabsorptionspectrophotometer(PerkinElmer,model2380,USA).These
bottlesandflaskswererinsedindilutehydrochloricacid(0.10MHCl)toarrestmicrobialaction,whichmayaffectthe
concentrationsoftheanionsandcationsinthesamples.Theinstrumentwascalibratedwithstandardsolutions.
Statisticalanalysis:Valuesrepresentedarethemeansandstandarddeviationsforthreereplicates.Statisticalanalysiswascarried
outbyExcelversion8.0software.Significancewasdefinedatp<0.05.
RESULTSANDDISCUSSION
ProximateanalysisofMoringaoleiferaseedoil:Resultsobtainedshowedthattheseedscontained5.3%moisture,39.3%crude
oil,37.6%crudeproteins,13.6%carbohydrate(bydifference),3.2%crudefiberand4.2%ash(Table1).Thehighpercentageof
oilmakesthisseedadistinctpotentialfortheoilindustry.AccordingtoBenthall(1946),Burkill(1966),Irvine(1961),Makkaret
al.(1997),DukeandAtchley(1984)andAbdulkarimetal.(2005),thematureseedyields2238%oil.Jamieson(1939)reporteda
40%yieldbyweightoftheseed.Variationinoilyieldmaybeduetothedifferencesinvarietyofplant,cultivationclimate,
ripeningstage,theharvestingtimeoftheseedsandtheextractionmethodused.
Minerals:ItisofinteresttonotethatthemostprevalentmineralelementinM.oleiferaseedsismagnesium,whichisahighas
251.300.02mg/100gdrymater(Table2).Mgplaysasignificantroleinphotosynthesis,carbohydratemetabolism,nucleicacids
andbindingagentsofcellwalls(Russel,1973).Calcium(83.750.01mg/100gdrymatter)isalsothemajorcomponentofbone
andassistsinteethdevelopment(Brody,1994).
Oilextraction:CharacteristicsoftheoilwerecomparedwithM.oleiferavarietiesotherscountry,describedbyTsaknisetal.
(1998),DahotandMemon(1985),FerraoandFerrao(1970)andAbdulkarimetal.(2005).Theextractedoilswereliquidatroom
temperature.TheoilcontentofM.oleiferaCongoBrazzavilleseedsandthelevelatwhich,thedifferencesaresignificantare
showninTable3.TheoilextractionwiththeSoxlhetmethodhadthehighestyield,duetotheincreasedabilityofthesolventto
overcomeforcesthatbindlipidswithinthesamplematrix(LumleyandColwell,1991).TheBlyeandDyermethod,showedthe
lowyieldduetolossesduringtheseparationofthetwophases,aqueouslayer(methanolwater)andorganiclayer(chloroform).