Fatty Acids Profile and Chemical Composition of Egyptian Moringa oleifera Seed Oils

Moringa oleifera is grown all over the world as a crop for its nutritious pods, leaves and seeds. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the oil percentage, density, iodine value, saponification value, acid value and fatty acid profile of Egyptian moringa Seed oils. Moringa seeds were irradiated using Co-60 at dose levels of 0.0 (control), 5, 10 and 15 kGy and oil was extracted from unirradiated and irradiated samples. Results showed that the oil percentage and density were almost unaffected. Irradiation reduced the iodine value, whereas the acid and saponification values were increased in all irradiated samples. The oil was found to contain high levels of unsaturated fatty acids, especially an omega-9-fatty acid (oleic) (up to 76.29 %) at a dose level of 15 kGy. Also at the same dose level, the dominant saturated acids were palmitic, stearic acid and arachidic (the three up to 12.66 %). GC-MS revealed the presence of different compounds (more than 50) in the moringa oil extract, among them alkaloids, terpenoids steroids, saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons and polyphenolic compounds. Phenolic and falvonoid were significantly increased by increasing irradiation dose levels. Also, the antioxidant activity of irradiated seed oil increased by increasing the phenolic and flavonoid contents. Moringa oleifera could be grown by wide scale production as a potentially valuable crop. However, isolation of individual compounds and their biological activities needs to be covered in future to enhance its pharmacological importance and to open new avenues of research.