EFFECTS OF REFINING ON QUALITY ATTRIBUTES OF AFRICAN PEAR (DACRYODES EDULIS) OIL

• Published in: Journal of food processing and preservation Vol. 32; no. 6; pp. 946 - 950
• Main Authors: ARISA, N.U, AWORH, O.C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA Malden, USA : Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.12.2008; Blackwell Publishing Inc; Wiley-Blackwell
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Fat industries; Food industries; Fruit and vegetable industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Oil; Pear; Fruit; Refining; Quality
• ISSN: 0145-8892; 1745-4549
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-4549.2008.00224.x

Oil extracted with hexane from dried African pear (Dacryodes edulis) mesocarp was degummed with 1 or 5% NaOH or H₃PO₄, and bleached with fuller's earth. Degumming and bleaching produced lighter-colored oils with lower specific gravity and free fatty acid content. However, degummed oils had higher peroxide value (PV) (16.50 mEq/kg for 1% H₃PO₄-degummed oils) than crude oil (8.00 mEq/kg). Bleaching drastically reduced the PV of degummed oils, with oil degummed with 1% NaOH having the lowest value after bleaching (1.50 mEq/kg). The main thrust of the study is industrial utilization and value-added processing of African pear, a lesser-known African crop of considerable horticultural, nutritional and environmental significance, with a view to promoting its cultivation, reducing postharvest fruit losses and enhancing the income of small-scale farmers that cultivate the crop. Practical applications include establishment of small-scale industries for extracting and refining vegetable oil from oil-rich African pear fruits.