Production and Analysis of Oil from Caster Seed: Case Study

Castor oil is a promising commodity that has a variety of applications in the coming years, particularly as a renewable energy source. Essential to the production and marketing of castor oil is the scientific investigation of the processing parameters needed to improve oil yield. The condition of the seed has a high contribution to the performance of the oil extraction process. Castor oil, produced from castor seeds, has been considered to be an important commercial value. Primarily for the manufacturing of soaps, lubricants, coatings and medicinal uses among others. Extraction and characterization of castor oil from seeds. The seeds were prepared for use by removing the endocarp, sun-drying for seven days and finally milled to flour. A soxhlet extraction was used for the extraction of castor oil, using hexane as solvent. The oil was recovered by simple distillation of the solvent. The residual oil obtained was investigated for physiochemical parameters and fatty acid composition. The physical parameters were: moisture content, specific gravity, refractive index, fire point, flash point, smoke point, viscosity, pH. For chemical parameters, were: free fatty acid (oleic acid), acid value, saponification value and iodine value. Also, the result of the analysis confirms the oil to be of good quality and can found application in food industry as food additives as well as industrial purposes such as cosmetics, soaps, paint and energy generation.