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Physical, morphological and chemical characteristics, oil recovery and fatty acid composition of Balanites aegyptiaca Del. kernels

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Abstract

Balanites aegyptiaca Del. kernels were chemically,physically and morphologically characterized. Crude oil (49.0%) andcrude protein (32.4%) were the two major constituents of the kernels.Phytic acid content was relatively high compared to other legumes. Incontrast, antitryptic activities of the kernel flours were very low.Sapogenin contents of the full fat, defatted and testa flours were 1.5, 2.7and 3.0%, respectively. The hardness of the kernel was found to be about10.4 × 105 N/m2, which was somewhat high. The morphologicalstructure of the kernel using a scanning electron microscope revealedthat the protein matrix was embedded in a lake of oil droplets. Oilrecovery, as a function of pressing time, pressure, temperature and particlesize was investigated. With increasing temperature up to 70 °C at 400 bar, for 120 min, an oil recovery of 79.4% wasobtained. Using an expeller at 115 °C, about 85% of thekernel oil was recovered. The reduction of particle size had a negativeeffect on oil recovery under the same conditions. The fatty acidcomposition was not affected by the pressing temperature up to 115 °C. The total amount of the unsaturated fatty acids was found tobe up to 74.8% (50 °C) and 75.1% (115 °C)of the total fatty acids content.

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  1. Federal Research Centre for Nutrition, Karlsruhe, Germany

    A.M. Mohamed, W. Wolf & W.E.L. Spieß

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  1. A.M. Mohamed
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  2. W. Wolf
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  3. W.E.L. Spieß
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Mohamed, A., Wolf, W. & Spieß, W. Physical, morphological and chemical characteristics, oil recovery and fatty acid composition of Balanites aegyptiaca Del. kernels. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 57, 179–189 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015237612018

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