Khaliq IH*, Naeem B, Abbas Q and Khalid S
Ten accessions of Ricinus communis were grown in derived agro-savannah ecology for two cropping seasons in randomized complete block design. The seeds harvested from them were subjected to chemical analysis with the aim of determining the chemical composition and characterizing the seed oil. The analyses were done at Springboard laboratory, Awka, Crop Science Department, University of Nigeria, Nsukka and National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, Zaria. The results showed free fatty acid compositions of linoleic 0.5%; stearic 1.3% and palmitic 1.5%; others are oleic, linolenic and ricinoleic with percentage values of 3.5%, 7.5% and 84.2% respectively while the result of physicochemical analysis showed that castor seed contains saponification value of 182.9 mg/g. Others include moisture content 4.4%, acid value 3.085 mg/g, viscosity 110.41 cP, pH 6.11, iodine value 8.46 mg/g, specific gravity 0.962 and refractive index of 1.477°C. Since seeds contain high nutrients with high potassium content, the use of the seeds as food condiment can be justified. However, one important limiting factor in the use of castor as a complementary nutrient is the presence of the poisonous ricin content of the seed. Therefore, it is advisable that the seeds should be well fermented and properly treated before they can be used either as food condiment or feed for animals.
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