Avaliação das propriedades físico-químicas dos óleos extraídos das sementes e das folhas da moringa (Moringa oleifera)

Abstract

Moringa (Moringa oleífera) is a plant species belonging to the only genus in the Moringacea family and is a potential source of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Their fatty acid profile and physicochemical characteristics were evaluated to characterize the oils extracted from moringa seeds and leaves. To this end, the fatty acid profile was determined by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectroscopy, and the physicochemical parameters were determined using the official methods for analyzing oils. The lipid profile results of the two oils indicated a high concentration of unsaturated fatty acids (70.6 to 70.9%), with linoleic acid standing out (51.5 to 51.7%). The relative density observed for the seed and leaf oils, respectively, was 0.9532 and 0.9529. The seed oil had an acidity index of 2.1 mg KOH/g and peroxide of 6.8 meq/Kg, an iodine index of 104.2 g l /100g, and saponification of 202.0 mg KOH/g. The leaf oil had an acidity index of 3.6 mg KOH/g and peroxide of 8.7 meq/Kg, an iodine index of 111.8 g l /100g, and saponification of 207.6 mg KOH/g. In addition, both oils had a refractive index of 1.3325. Therefore, the results characterize moringa seed and leaf oils as high-potential raw materials for the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetics industries, given their composition rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, which can be subjected to stability and bioactive properties studies.