Characteristics, chemical composition and utilisation of Albizia julibrissin seed oil

The physicochemical characteristics, fatty acid and triacylglycerol compositions, DSC profile and UV/vis spectrum of oil extracted from Albizia julibrissin seeds were determined in this study. The oil content and the moisture of the seeds were 10.50% and 1.56%. The free fatty acid, the peroxide value, the p-anisidine value, the saponification value, the iodine value were 2.54%, 6.61 mequiv. O(2)/kg of oil, 1.98, 190.63 (mg KOH/g) and 111.33 (g/100 g of oil). respectively. The specific extinction coefficients K(232), K(268) were 7.55 and 0.96, respectively. Linoleic acid (C(18:2), 58.58%), palmitic acid (C(16), 13.86%) and oleic acid (C(18:1), 10.47%) were the dominant fatty acids in the A julibrissin seed oil. LLL (36.87%), OLL (21.62%), PLL (16.69%) and PLO + SLL (8.59%) were the abundant triacylglycerol representing > 83% of the seed oil (L: linoleic, 0: oleic, P: palmitic, S: stearic). The DSC melting curves reveal that: melting point = -14.70 degrees C and melting enthalpy = 54.34 J/g. A. julibrissin seed oil showed some absorbance in the UV-B and UV-C ranges. The results of the present analytical study show that A. julibrissin is a promising oilseed crop. which can be used for making soap. hair shampoo and UV protectors. Furthermore, the high level of unsaturated fatty acids makes it desirable in terms of nutrition. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.