Project Abstract

ABSTRACT Mucuna pruriens var. utilis is a leguminous plant known for its various medicinal properties. In this study, we focused on the extraction and characterization of the seed oil of the white variety of Mucuna pruriens var. utilis. The seeds were collected, cleaned, and subjected to oil extraction using a solvent extraction method. The extracted oil was then analyzed for its physicochemical properties, fatty acid composition, antioxidant activity, and thermal stability. The physicochemical properties of the extracted seed oil were determined according to standard methods. The oil was found to have a light yellow color with a characteristic odor. The specific gravity, refractive index, and acid value of the oil were measured to be within acceptable limits. The fatty acid composition of the oil was analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and revealed the presence of various fatty acids, including oleic acid, linoleic acid, and palmitic acid. The antioxidant activity of the Mucuna pruriens var. utilis seed oil was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay. The oil exhibited significant antioxidant activity, indicating its potential for use as a natural antioxidant in food and pharmaceutical applications. Furthermore, the thermal stability of the oil was assessed using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), which showed that the oil was stable at high temperatures. Overall, the results of this study demonstrate the potential of white Mucuna pruriens var. utilis seed oil as a valuable source of bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties. The characterization of the oil provides valuable information for its potential applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Further studies can be conducted to explore the bioactive components of the oil and investigate its potential health benefits.

Project 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.