Characteristic Physicochemical of Oil Extract from Moringa oleifera and the Kinetics of Degradation of the Oil during Heating

Abstract: The aim of the study was to investigate the physicochemical properties and the kinetics of degradation of Moringa oleifera seed oil during heating. The seed is a good source of oil (40%). The physical properties of the oil extracts showed the state to be liquid at room temperature and indicated that the oil had refractive index, 1.4680; the peroxide value, 1.67 (meq O 2 /kg oil); free fatty acid, 2.10%; iodine value, 66.2%; saponification value, 167; unsaponifiable matter content, 0.87% and viscosity, 47.24 (mPa.s at 25°C). Gas liquid chromatography technique has been developed for identification and quantitative determination of total unsaturated and saturated fatty acids shows that the crude oil had 79.57 and 20.42% respectively. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) indicates the presence of three components in oil extracted. The first peak at low melting point appears at -31.10°C (∆H f = -5.36 J/g), the second peak appears to -7.03°C (∆H f = +49.56 J/g) and the last peak appears to +6.30°C (∆H f = +0.55 J/g). The degradation kinetic of the oil was also investigated. The thermal oxidation of the double bonds of the oil showed a first-order thermal oxidation kinetic and the Arrhenius plot yielded a straight line with a slope equivalent to activation energy of 1.593 KJ/mol. There is the possibility of considering the seed as feed supplement and its oil for industrial application