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The Internet Journal of Nutrition and Wellness

Volume 8 Number 2

Extraction And Characterirization Of Sunflower Crude Oil.

A Abitogun, A Omosheyin, D Oloye, O Alademehin
Citation

A Abitogun, A Omosheyin, D Oloye, O Alademehin. Extraction And Characterirization Of Sunflower Crude Oil.. The
Internet Journal of Nutrition and Wellness. 2008 Volume 8 Number 2.
Abstract
The oil samples used for this work were obtained from sunflower seeds. The seeds was prepared, dried, dehulled, conditioned
and flaked. The oil was extracted by solvent extraction. The oil sample was investigated for their physico-chemical parameters
which were specific gravity, refractive index, colour, flash, fire smoke, soft and turbidity points. There values were 0.923 0.016,
1.4750.002, 18.00 units,339.002.20oC, 3421.20oC, 235.001.75oC, 42.001.108.000.20, 42.001.10, respectively. Other
were free fatty acid, acid value, saponification value, peroxide value iodine value and yield, the values were 1.400.007%,
3.090.24%,197.430.42mgKOH/goil,12.62.20Meq02/kg, 131.600.71WIJ, 41.32.12% respectively. The qualitative
determination of the fatty acid composition was carried out by methylation and application of Gas chromatography. The
percentage yield which was 41.3% makes it a good source of oil. The free fatty acid (1.40%), peroxide (12.6meg KOH goil/ ),
confirm that the oil can be processed into edible vegetable oil. The high level of unsaturated fatty acids (linoleic and oleic acids)
and low level of saturated fatty acids(Myristic, palmitic and stearic acids) makes the oil a liquid oil. Finally, the oil, if refined and
consumed, it will be a good source of essential fatty acid needed in the body.

INTRODUCTION
Lipids are important nutritional component in grains and
seeds of many major fruits, They solubilized vitamins A, B,
E, and K, which are necessary for the proper maintenance of
health and a source of essential fatty acids, thus contributing
to several metabolic function Lawson,(1995).
Lipids can be referred to as heterogenous collection of
biochemical substances, which have in common the
properties of being soluble in organic polar solvent and
insoluble or sparingly soluble in water. The term lipid covers
edible fat, oils and certain related compounds, which
includes phospholipids and steroid Anonymous,(2004).
The sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) is a member of the
compositae (Asteracea) family and the genus Helianthus. It
originates from North America, where it was traditionally
cultivated by the Native Americans. The sunflower was
th
introduced is into Spain in the middle of 16 century, where
it was cultivated essentially as an ornamental plant. Its oilbearing qualities were only discovered in the 18th century.
Since that time, the sunflower for oil production has been
considerable genetically improved. Some of the first
improvements, through trait selection and hybridization,
took place in Russia, then in U.S.A. and aimed at increasing
the oil contents of the seeds. The breeding resulted in the
development of strains with Oleic improved acid content

Soldertor, (1976) . Recently, strains with a low content

saturated fatty acids have been developed [4]. However,
sunflower seed was not commercially grown in Africa.
There are two types of sunflowers, the oil seed and nonoilseed, which are nevertheless of the same species. Oil seed
sunflower, constituting the major part of oil World
production and are characterized by their solid black hulls
that are firmly attached to the seed[5]. There are also a high
oleic acid oilseed sunflower that has a fatty acid profile
similar to canola oil .It is estimated that 95% of the world
production is the traditional oilseed type and only 5% is the
non-oilseed type Gunstone, (2002) .
Roughly 80% of the value of sunflower seeds is attributed to
their oil content, the oil content of sunflower seed is 23 to
46% NRC,(2001). Like all vegetable oils, sunflower oil is
composed of triglycerides (98-99%) and other substances in
the unsaponifiable fraction, which are also known as the
minor components NRC, (2001)., Et Evrard, (1996).
The characterization of refined crude sunflower oil have
been carried out extensively, but little have been reported on
physico-chemical properties of the sunflower oil Salunke et
al, (1992). The chemical composition of oil extract
consequently gives a qualitative identification of oil, and is a
very important area in the selective application guide in the

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Extraction And Characterirization Of Sunflower Crude Oil.

commercialization and utility of oil products Salunke et al
,(1992). Such analysis as the iodine value gives an index of
the drying and polymerizing properties of oil while flash
points, indicate a substantial removal of solvent from a
solvent-extracted oil like the one being discussed , where a
standard not below121C is required, for example by the open
cup method of analysis Erickson et al ,(1980).
The fatty acid composition of sunflower oil makes it very
important oil to be used for cooking. The fatty acid
composition of refined sunflower oil as reported by AOAC,
(1984)., Mar ,(2005), includes myirstic acid (C14:0),
palmitic acid (C16:0), palmtoleic acid 9C16:1), stearic acid
(C18:0), Oleic acid (C18:1), Linoleic acid (C18:2), linolenic
acid (C18:3), and Arachidic acid (C20:1).
It is considered a highly polyunsaturates oil due to its high
linoleic acid content (48.3 to 74.0%) and its moderate oleic
acid content (14.0 to 39.4%) and low level of saturated fatty
acid content (12%) on average Gunstone, (2002). These fatty
acids are essential fatty acid to the body because it cannot be
synthesized by the body.
The characterization based on different fatty acid group
gives insight into the distribution of acid as in the
unsaturated fraction among oleic, linoleic and linolenic acid
as in the case with the linoleic, acid group, though,it is not a
conclusive pointer USDA (littp:// www.Nal.Usda.
Gov/fnic/foodcompO).
This paper is however aimed at extracting and investigating
the physico-chemical and fatty acid composition of crude
sunflower oil. This will be achieved through the realization
of the following: extraction of oil through solvent extraction
process; determination of the physico-chemical parameters
of crude sunflower oil.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The sunflower seeds used for this work were obtained from a
Horticultural farm located at Kaduna in Kaduna state of
Nigeria. They were prepared for use by dehulling, bin
conditioning, and flasking. A soxhlet extractor was used for
extraction of the oil. The solvent (Hexane) was recovered by
simple distillation and the residual oil was collected and
used for analytical work.
The moisture content and specific gravity were determined
according to Erickson et al, (1980). While the refractive
index was determined using Abbey Refractometer. The
colour was determined using Lovibond tintometer in one

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inche cell. Gibb et al (2004).

The flash point which is the temperature at which the
mixtures of vapour with air will ignite, and fire point was the
temperature at which oil will sustain continued at
combustion were measured using Gallenkamp Automatic
Pensky- Martens flash points Gibb et al (2004).
The smoke point is the temperature at which oil gives off a
thin bluish smoke was determined by standard method in
open dish specified by the ASTM,(1984). The temperature at
which turbidity is first detectable was also measured using
palm test turbidity, tube Gibb et al (2004)
The chemical properties of the oil sample were determined
by official method of analysis Erickson et al (1980). The
chemical properties include free fatty acid, saponification
value, peroxide value, iodine value and acid value.
Analytical test method for fatty acid methyl esters, the fatty
acid methyl esters were analysed using Agilent 6890 series.
Gas chromatography filled with a flame ionization detector
and enhanced integrator. Helium gas was used as carrier gas.
The column initial temperature was 250C rising at 10C / mm
to a final temperature at 300c while the injection and the
detector were maintained at 250C and 300C respectively.
The peaks were identified by comparism with standard fatty
acid methyl esters obtained from Johnson wax Nig Ltd,
Lagos Erickson et al (1980).

RESULTS

Extraction And Characterirization Of Sunflower Crude Oil.

Figure 1

Table 1:- Physico-chemical parameters of crude sunflower

oil

1.4750.002 respectively. These values were inline with the

value range of 0.924 to 0926 and 0.472 to 1.476 respectably
reported by [15]. The result of flash , fire and smoke points
were determined to be 339.002.20C,342.001.20C and
2351.75C respectively. These values can be compared to
the crude soybean values reported by [16]. The soft point
was measured to be 42.001.10C, the range reported by
[17].
Free fatty acid and acid value are among the characteristics
that are necessary for the confirmation of the identity and
edibility of oil. These were determined to be 1.40% and
3.09% respectively. The low value of free fatty acid is an
indication that the oil can be refined to edible vegetable oil.
These values were within the range value of 0.5 to 2.8%
reported by [9]. The result of the peroxide value in
milliequivalent /peroxide / kg was 12.6Meq /peroxide /kg.
The high peroxide value was an indication that the oil is
susceptible to oxidative rancidity due to the presence of
double bond.

Figure 2

Table 2: Fatty Acid composition of crude sunflower oil

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 1 presents the result of the physico-chemical
parameters of crude sunflower oil. The moisture content of
the oil was not detected. The colour of the crude oil was
determined to be 18.00 lovibond unit. This was calculated
based on the expression (5R +Y-B) where R is the red
pigment, Y is the yellow Pigment and B is the blue pigment.
The yield was calculated to be 41.32.10. The melting point
was determined to be -17.001.15 C while the specific
gravity and Refractive index were 0.92300.016 and

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The unsaturated glycerides of oil have the ability to absorb a

definite amount of iodine Morris and Jacob,(1999). The
determined iodine value was 131.6(WIJ) this is owing to the
fact that the oil contain unsaturated hydrocarbon Prevot
(1986). The saponification value result was 197.43mg
KOH/g oil. This value is very much close to that of soybean
oil and it is an indication that the oil will not be good for
soap making.
Table 2 depicts the fatty acid composition of crude
sunflower oil,The fatty acids detected were Myristic,
palmitic, palmtoleic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, linoleric and
arachidic acids, and their value. The values were oil 0.183,
6.269, 0.154, 4.330, 17.558, 52.654, 0.418 and 0.057 %
/100g of oil respectively. The fatty acid detected were within
the fatty acid detected by[11]. The high level of linoleic acid
content (52.654% /100g of oil) and low level of saturated
fatty acid (`10.839 % of oil) is an indication that sunflower
oil is more of unsaturated fatty acid. This further confirms
the reason why sunflower oil is more of liquid than solid
hence, it cannot easily congeal at ordinary temperature
which was also reflected in the value of melting
point(-17.01.15C) obtained for the oil.
The result also shows the summary of the total fatty acid
composition of the oil. The value for saturated fatty acid was
sum up to 10.839 5 % of oil, monounsaturated fatty acid was
17.712 5 of oil and polyunsaturated fatty acid was 53.072 %
%of oil. The total fatty acids in oil were 81.623 % of oil. The

Extraction And Characterirization Of Sunflower Crude Oil.

18.377 % of oil were the fatty acid that cannot be detected.
This might be as a result of impurities contains in the crude
oil.

CONCLUSION
The results of the investigation carried out on crude
sunflower oil suggest that, if the oil is refined and consumed,
it will supply the essential fatty acid needed in the body.
This will reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases in human
being. The result of the physicochemical properties
supported the suitability of the oil for consumption rather
than industrial application of soap making.

References
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1250-1255.
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Extraction And Characterirization Of Sunflower Crude Oil.

Author Information
A. S Abitogun
Department Of Science Laboratory Technology, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic
A.C. Omosheyin
Department Of Food Science And Technology, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic
D.A Oloye
Department Of Science Laboratory Technology, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic
O.J Alademehin
Postgraduate Student, Federal University Of Technology

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