Abstract
In view of the growing demand for vegetable oils and fats, currently exploration of some under-utilized and non-conventional oil seed crops is of great concern. This work presents data on the detailed physicochemical and antioxidant attributes of kapok (Ceiba pentandra Gaertn.) seed oil. The kapok seeds contained an appreciable amount of oil (27.5 %), protein (35.0 %) and fiber (19.0 %). The extracted kapok seed oil (KSO) had an iodine value of 101.8 g of I-2/100 g of oil, a saponification value of 187 mg of KOH/g of oil), and unsaponifiable matter 0.83 %. KSO also showed a good oxidation state as indicated by the measurements of the peroxide value, conjugated dienes, conjugated trienes, para-anisidine and the induction period (Rancimat method). The tested oil showed a considerable amount of total phenolics (2.50 mg/100 g) and an appreciable free radical scavenging capacity. Gas liquid chromatographic analysis of fatty acids (FA) reveals that KSO mainly has linoleic acid (33.6 %) followed by oleic acid (23.4 %) and palmitic acid (22.4 %). Besides, a notable amount of cyclopropenoid fatty acids such as malvalic acid (9.1 %) and sterculic acid (2.8 %) was also detected. The FA composition of the tested oil was further verified by recording FTIR and NMR spectra. Among the oil phytosterols, analyzed by GC/GC-MS, beta-sitosterol was found to be the principal component whereas RP-HPLC analysis showed the occurrence of gamma-tocopherol (550 mg/kg) as the major tocopherol along with considerable amount of alpha-tocopherol (91 mg/kg) and delta-tocopherol (5.52 mg/kg). It can be concluded from the results of this comprehensive study that under-utilized kapok seeds are a potential feed stock for the production of a useful oil for edible and/or oleochemical applications.