Physicochemical Property and Some Vitamin Contents of <i>Telfaria occidentalis</i> Seeds Oil

Abstract

Fluted pumpkin, a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, is a versatile fruit and is used for various food processing application in Nigeria. As a result of its versatility, this study was conducted to ascertain the physiochemical characteristics and some vitamins content of its seeds oil. The pumpkin pods were gotten from a local farm in Benin metropolis, Edo state, Nigeria. The extraction of oil was conducted by the use of Seed-2-oil ® hot press machine. Various other standard methods were employed in the study. The physicochemical characteristics showed that the light yellow oil had a refractive index of 1.471⁰C ± 0.001 and melting point of 19.67⁰C ± 1.80 while the chemical properties revealed acid value (0.64 mg KOH/ g of oil ± 0.05), peroxide value (0.99 Meq of ?2/Kq of  Oil ± 0.01), saponification value (189.73 mg KOH/g of oil ± 5.20) and p-anisidine (0.09 ± 0.01) respectively. The findings for the vitamins revealed vitamin A (781IU ± 1.35), D (1361IU ± 0.14) and K3 (8.145IU ± 0.36) respectively. The findings from this study  revealed that pumpkin seed oil can be a good nutritive enrichment of foods and food products and a possible utilization in pharmaceuticals.