Thesis Abstract

Abstract
Mucuna pruriens var. utilis, commonly known as velvet bean, is a leguminous plant with various medicinal and nutritional properties. The seeds of Mucuna pruriens var. utilis are known to contain oil with potential applications in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries. This study focused on the extraction and characterization of white Mucuna pruriens var. utilis seed oil to explore its potential uses. The oil extraction process was carried out using a Soxhlet extractor with petroleum ether as the solvent. The extracted oil was then analyzed for various physicochemical properties including yield, color, odor, acid value, saponification value, iodine value, and fatty acid composition. The yield of white Mucuna pruriens var. utilis seed oil was found to be X%, with a pale yellow color and a characteristic odor. The acid value, which indicates the free fatty acid content, was measured to be X mg KOH/g, while the saponification value, an indicator of average molecular weight, was found to be X mg KOH/g. The iodine value, a measure of unsaturation, was determined to be X g I2/100g oil. Gas chromatography analysis revealed the fatty acid composition of the white Mucuna pruriens var. utilis seed oil. The major fatty acids identified included oleic acid, linoleic acid, and palmitic acid, which collectively accounted for over X% of the total fatty acids present. The presence of these fatty acids suggests that the white Mucuna pruriens var. utilis seed oil may possess nutritional benefits and potential applications in the food industry. The characterization of white Mucuna pruriens var. utilis seed oil provides valuable information for potential industrial applications. The oil's physicochemical properties indicate its suitability for use in various industries such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and food. The high content of unsaturated fatty acids, particularly oleic acid and linoleic acid, suggests potential health benefits associated with the consumption of this oil. In conclusion, the extraction and characterization of white Mucuna pruriens var. utilis seed oil demonstrate its potential as a valuable natural resource with diverse applications. Further studies can explore its bioactive compounds and biological activities to fully understand its potential benefits and applications in different industries.

Thesis Overview

1.0 PREAMBLE1.1 INTRODUCTIONIn our world today, the geometric increase of the population has raised alarming concerns on the food security to sustain the teeming population (Sridhar, 2007). The worse hit is developing countries in Africa, especially Nigeria that still lacks the capacity to manage food production tasks arising from the current global warming and other environmental changes. The few food products usually lack adequate proteins, essential fatty acids and vitamins leading to the common form of malnutrition in individuals.Interestingly, unconventional legumes are promising in terms of nutrition, provisions of food security, agricultural development and in crop rotation in developing countries (Sridhar, 2007). The wild legume varieties have different quantities of protein, carbohydrates, fiber, lipid/fatty acids and minerals.Mucuna pruriens var.utilis is a tropical legume of the family Fabaceae and genus Mucuna. Some of its common names are Agbara (Igbo), Yerepe (Yoruba), Mauritius bean, cow itch, cow hage, Jackbohne (German). Velvet bean is an annual perennial, herbaceous, vigorous climbing vine that growso 3-18cm in height. It is indigenous of the tropical regions especially Africa, India and the West Indies. Its pods are sigmoid, turgid, longitudinally ribbed and always clustered on the stem and the pods are covered with reddish-orange hairs that dislodge readily causing intense irritation on the skin. The pods contain seeds that are black or white (Siddhuraju, 2000; Leslie, 2005; Sridhar, 2007).The oil contents of Mucuna seed may be edible and consist of different fatty acid which is a characteristic identify of most oil seeds. The chemical composition of an oil extract gives a qualitative identification of such oil in selection of areas while it can be applied or utilized despite differences in processing and extraction of the oil (Ofoegbu, - 2006).The aim of this work thus is to extract the oil from the white seeds of Mucuna pruriens var. utilis, characterize it and determine the applicability, based on the quantities, in industries such beverage, pharmaceutical and/or soap manufacturing.OBJECTIVE OF STUDYThis work was inspired by the need to find alternative sources of good oils for human utilization in industries.SCOPE OF WORKThis work is intended:(1) To determine the percentage of oil content of white seeds of Mucuna pruriens var.utilis(2) To determine the moisture contents of the seeds used(3) To characterize, by obtaining the physicochemical properties of the oil(4) To suggest possible industry the oil can be utilized based on the results and the information provided in literature on oils.