Investigation on Fatty Acid Composition of Oil Extracted from Carica papaya Seed

This study aimed to extract oil from Carica papaya L. seeds by solvent extraction with petroleum ether. The extraction process was carried out for 36 hours and reddish-yellow colored oil (24.01%) was obtained. Esterification and saponification of extracted seed oil can be carried out by using different catalysts. But in this study, the extracted oil was esterified with BF3-methanolic solution and the percentages of fatty acids were estimated as the methyl esters of fatty acids by Gas Chromatography. The fatty acid compositions of Carica papaya L. seed oil were oleic (78.88%), palmitic (15.96%), stearic (4.71%), and arachidic (0.44%) acids. It was implied that the unsaturated fatty acid of the seed oil was more than the saturated one. On the basis of this result, papaya seed oil can be considered a potential source of oleic acid and an alternative source of vegetable oils.

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