Effect of salinity on yield and quality of Moringa oleifera seed oil

• Main Authors: Farooq Anwar, Abdullah Ijaz Hussain, Muhammad Ashraf, Amer Jamail, Shahid Iqbal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas 2006-12-01
• Series: Grasas y Aceites
• Subjects: characterization; fatty acid composition; moringa oleifera; oil quality; salinity; tocopherols
• Online Access: http://grasasyaceites.revistas.csic.es/index.php/grasasyaceites/article/view/65

Variation in the yield and composition of Moringa oleifera (M. oleifera) seed oil from two differently adopted (non-saline and saline) provinces of Pakistan was examined. Hexaneextracted M. oleifera seeds from saline and non-saline areas contained 33.50% and 32.79% oil yield, respectively. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed no significant differences in the physical (refractive index (40 oC), color and specific gravity (24 °C) or chemical (iodine value, free fatty acid value, peroxide value, unsaponifiable matter, saponification value, conjugated diene and triene values and  p-anisidine value) characteristics of the oils obtained from both areas. The concentration of C18:1 and C16:0 was significantly (P < 0.001) higher whereas, that of C14:0 was lower in M. oleifera seed oils from the saline area. A tocopherol analysis demonstrated the concentration of α- and δ-tocopherol of Moringa seed oils to be significantly (P < 0.001) higher from the saline area. Whereas, the contents of γ-tocopherol was found to be significantly (P < 0.001) higher in the Moringa seed oils native to the non-saline area. Results from the present study revealed that salinity did not affect the oil content of M. oleifera seeds. Nevertheless, it might affect the tocopherol and fatty acid profiles of M. oleifera seed oil.