Extraction, Characterization and Evaluation of Health Applications of Moringa oleifera Seed Oil

Abstract

In this study, the seeds of Moringa oleifera (MO) plant grown in the Adamawa Region of Cameroon were valorized by extracting their oil using mechanical expression. The oil was allowed to clarify through by gravity and an oil yield of 26.07% was obtained. The extracted MO oil was subjected to physicochemical characterization giving the following results; the density of the oil was 0.896 g/mL, a refractive index of 1.468, a viscosity of 49.80± 0.30 mPa.s, an acid value of 2.69%, a peroxide value of 3.7 meq of O2/kg of oil, a saponification value of 189.34 mg of KOH/g of oil and an iodine index of 67.79g/100g of oil. The determination of relevant secondary metabolites by titration revealed a flavonoid content of 0.66 mg GAE/g, total phenol content of 9.7 mg QE/g, carotenoid content of 0.25 mg beta-caro/g and antioxidant activity gave an IC50 concentration of 17.5 mg/mL. Determination of the fatty acid profile revealed that oleic acid (78.45%) makes up the predominant component in the MO seed oil. The chemical composition of the MO seed oil was further verified by IR spectroscopy whose spectral interpretation revealed a predominance of fatty acid moieties in the oil. From these results, it appears that Moringa oleifera seed oil has moisturizing, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and nourishing properties and therefore the oil is a potent raw material or bioactive substance in the formulation of cosmetic products like creams for body lotion to combat skin infections and the MO seed can find pharmaceutical applications amongst others.