Physicochemical characterisation of butternut (Jugulans cinerea) oil

Some physical and chemical properties of butternut (jugulans cinerea) oil were investigated. The oil was found to be deep amber in color and slightly thick. The oil melts at 260c, has specific gravity of 0.99 and a refractive index of1.44 at 400c. The chemical characteristics showed the total oil content to be 46.15%. Unsaponifiable matter was 0.69%, saponification value was 248.02mg/KOH/g oil. The iodine value was 40.45 while the acid and peroxide values were 3.96mg/KOH/g oil and 7.2Meq/100g oil respectively. The free fatty acid content of the oil was 3.16%. The oil was thus observed to have some advantageous physicochemical properties and could be regarded as seed oil due its high fat content