Studies on the potentials of Balanites aegyptiaca seed oil as raw material for the production of liquid cleansing agents

Abstract

The seed oil of Balanites aegyptiaca was extracted and its chemical and physical properties were evaluated. The chemical parameters investigated include: saponification value (SV), iodine value (IV), peroxide value (PV) and free fatty acid (%FFA). These were found to be 168.6 mgKOH/g, 78.7 gI2/100 g, 6.0 mEq/kg and 0.18 mgKOH/g, respectively. The physical parameters evaluated include: percentage yield (49.9%), specific gravity (0.927), refractive index (1.4784) and moisture content (0.27%). Saponin was also screened for and was found to be present. Thus the results have shown that the oil is non-drying and contain saponin; this then suggests that the oil is a good raw material for the formulation of liquid cleansing agents. Liquid soap and shampoo were then formulated using the oil and the properties of the products were evaluated. From the results, it was found that the products compared favourably to similar products sold in the market in terms of pH, colour, percentage alkali and solubility in water.   Key words: Seed oil, liquid soap, saponin, Nigeria.