Abstract
In this study, Ethiopian castor seeds were collected from a local market and studied for their oil yield and physicochemical characteristics including fatty acid composition. Their oil was extracted using mechanical method and using hexane, ethyl acetate, and methanol solvents and its physicochemical properties were studied. It was done by varying solid-to-solvent ratio (1:9, 1:12 and 1:15) and time (1, 3, 5, 6, and 7 h) for the different solvents used for the extraction. A maximum yield of 72.3% for methanol, 68% for ethyl acetate and 61.6% for hexane was obtained at optimum conditions of 1:12 ratio and 7 h extraction. Specific gravity, viscosity, moisture content, refractive index, acid value, saponification value, iodine value, and peroxide value were measured for the different types of oils. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of the four types of oils showed that polar solvents give slightly higher ricinoleic acid content than hexane-extracted oil. Hence, use of polar solvents gave the highest yield, good quality, and purer fatty acid composition for the oil prepared from Ethiopian castor seed, making it suitable for industrial applications due to ease of modification of the chemical structure of the oil.<div><br></div>
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