The versatility of the Moringa oleifera oil in sustainable applications

Abstract

This study had as aims the extraction, purification and characterization of moringa oil for everyday applications with backing scientific. The average oil yield was of 23.92%, using the techniques: mechanical pressing (11.36%) and by with hexane extraction (35.48%). The oil extracted by pressing was analysed for gas chromatography, revealing a profile of 21.5% of saturated fatty acids and 78.5% of unsaturated fatty acids, having the oleic acid as the major component. The mixed crude oil was refined in four steps: degumming, neutralization, washing and drying. The crude and refined oils were characterised through their acidity index (8.8; 20.5 and 0.2 mgKOH g-1), peroxide index (3.3; 5.4 meqO2 kg-1 and not detected), water content (876.6; 632.0 and 630.2 mg kg-1), turbidity (64.1; 12.6 and 2.1 NTU), specific mass (909.5; 907.2 and 907.0 kg m3), kinematic viscosity (43.6; 39.1 and 41.7 mm2 s-1), high power calorific (39.7; 40. and 39.4 MJ kg-1) and calorific value lower (36.9; 36.9; 37.1 MJ kg-1), and ash content (0.05; 0.05 and 0.007%), respectively. The results show that moringa is a viable and sustainable plant in the use of its oil as raw material for several industries, especially in the food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and biodiesel industry.