Abstract:
The present research was designed to conduct a proximate analysis of tamarind (Tamarindus indica) seeds and to investigate the physicochemical properties of the oil.
The proximate composition of tamarind seeds including moisture, protein, fiber, oil, ash, and carbohydrate were initially determined. Carbohydrate was found to be the major component comprising (58.59%), while moisture was (5.12%), protein (26.71%), fiber (2.79%), oil (3.26 %) and ash (3.53 %).
The oil (yield 3.2 %) was obtained by solvent extraction using hexane (1:6, solid / hexane, w/v) under reflux for 6h. T. indica oil was tested for its physical and chemical properties, which were found to be moisture content (0.27%), refractive index at 300C (1.4606), colour (3.5 for blue , 7.3 for yellow and 4.3 for red ), density(0.855 g/cm3), saponification value (195.25 mg KOH/g), peroxide value (17.22 mg O2/g ) and acid value (3.5 mg KOH/g).
Extracted oil was also analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass spectroscopy, on which thirty three different components were identified, of which linoleic acid (37.59%) is predominant, followed by Oleic acid (16.37%), palmitic acid (11.72%) and lignoceric acid (10.56%).
