Physiochemical properties, fatty acid, sterol and tocopherol contents of some moringa oleifera seed oils

The goal of this thesis was to evaluate physical and chemical properties of oils extracted from the seeds of a medicinal aromatic plant, Moringa, by cold pressing and solvent extraction. The seeds of three different Moringa varieties, ODC, PKM1 and MOMAX were used in this study. Several physical and chemical properties as well as fatty acid compositions, triglyceride, sterol and tocopherol contents of the Moringa oils obtained by both cold pressing and solvent extraction from these seeds were determined and compared with each other. Protein contents of the Moringa seeds, ODC, PKM1 and MOMAX 3 were determined as 22.78, 20.66 and 24.66%, respectively. Crude oil yields were found to range between 26.46 and 28.19% in solvent extraction and between 24.20 and 26.30 % in cold pressing. Main fatty acids in the oils of Moringa seeds were found to be palmitic (16:0) (5.59-7.26%), stearic (18:0) (5.37-5.89%), oleic (18:1n9) (63.31-70.04%), arachidic (20:0) (2.67-3.71%) and behenic acids (22:0) (3.82-5.73%). Oleic acid was the major fatty acid found in Moringa seed oils. The major triglyceride, tocopherol and sterol in the oils were determined as triolein (OOO; 35.63-36.50%), α-ocopherol (15.88-18.91 µg/g) and β-Sitosterol (39.04-42.11%).