Minerals and fatty acid composition analysis of trichilia emetica seed oil and the possibility of its use in cosmetic preparation

Abstract

Due to the abundance of Trichilia emetica in south-west part of Ethiopia and considering unutilized oilseed by the local community, this work was carried out to determine the potential application of seed oil in cosmetic preparation by investigating the fatty acid composition as well as minerals content. The fatty acid composition and the minerals content of the seed oil were determined by GC-MS and AAS respectively in Addis Ababa University, department of chemistry. The results showed that the major component of Trichilia emetica seed oil was palmitic acid (52.36%), followed by oleic acid (36.70%), linoleic acid (7.59%), stearic acid (1.99%) and cis-vaccenic acid (1.36%), all the fatty acids were expressed in methyl esters. The result of minerals elemental analysis of the seed oil reveals the presence of Ca (1.668ppm), Cr (0.7061ppm), Cd (0.0387ppm), Zn (0.0245ppm) and Cu (0.0184ppm). The concentration of Ni and Pb in the seed oil is below detection limits which indicate that the oil is safe for different industrial applications