Comparison of chemical and physical cold extraction methods of Moringa oleifera oil (Moringaceae)

Chemical engineering

The aim of this study is to establish the best method of cold extraction of Moringa oleifera seeds from Madagascar by comparing chemical and physical method from two types of seeds, unroasted and roasted. This will allows optimizing operating conditions by favouring operation that consumes least energy, economy and time with good efficiency and superior quality. First step is to find out quantitative yield of extracting seed oil using hexane maceration and cold press from unroasted and roasted seeds. Then, organoleptic characteristics description and fatty acid profile analysis of oil by gas chromatography establish oil quality. Comparison of results shows that chemical method with unroasted beans gave highest extraction rate. Solvent promotes lipids transfer to the exterior part of seeds cells. In terms of quality, oil extracted by physical method is comparable to olive oil. Comparing with literature, extraction yields are quite low especially for roasted bean press. This can come mainly from the difference of seeds quality and operating conditions. Thus, for roasted seeds, this low rate may be due to seeds consistency which changes after roasting. On the other hand, quality of oil extracted by press is similar to oils study in literature. Optimization of operating conditions is considered as a perspective of this study.

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