Assessing the oil yield and physicochemical parameters of the seed oil of Chrysophyllum albidum (African Star Apple)

Chrysophyllum albidum is of great economic value in tropical Africa due to its diverse industrial, medicinal, and food uses. In Ghana, the fruit is locally known as "Alansa," but its full potential has not been fully explored. In this study, oil was extracted from the seeds of Chrysophyllum albidum (Africa Star Apple) fruit using two methods: Soxhlet extraction and maceration, with normal hexane as the extraction solvent. The extraction was conducted at a temperature of 65 °C for the Soxhlet extraction method. The aim of these methods was to determine the percentage oil yield. The results showed that the oil content was 2.13% by Soxhlet extraction and 1.24% by maceration. Characterization was performed to determine the physical and chemical properties of the extracted oil. The results revealed that the oil was yellow in colour, with no offensive smell. It had a specific gravity of 0.94 kg/m3, saponification value of 181.203 mg/KOH/g, iodine value of 126.6804 mg/g oil, acid value of 5.52%, free fatty acids value of 2.77%, peroxide value of 4.50 meq/kg, and refractive index of 1.3648 at 20 °C. These findings suggest that Chrysophyllum albidum seeds may not be a highly productive source of oil based on their oil yield. However, the studied characteristics of the extracted oil indicate that it may still hold economic value in Ghana.