Proximate and physicochemical characterization of Moringa stenopetala seed oil through soxhlet extractor in Dawro zone, Ethiopia

Moringa stenopetala is a fast-growing deciduous cabbage plant for human food and animal feeding in the dry season in Ethiopia's Dawro zone. However, little is known about the proximate and physicochemical parameters of seed oil of M. Stenopetala grown in the study area.

In this study, the proximate composition and physicochemical parameters of oil extracted from M. Stenopetala seeds were conducted through the Soxhlet extractor as the extracting medium. This study analyzed five selected varieties of M. Stenopetala seed oils.

The proximate analysis of M. Stenopetala seed oils revealed that the moisture content ranged from (7.23±0.61%-10.52±0.52%), Oil yield (29.41±1.05%-40.18±0.89%), Ash content (4.91±0.22%-5.77±0.04%), whereas the average crude fiber content was (6.88±0.24% -8.55±0.22%) and crude protein content (26.07±0.62%-30.01±1.31%). The physicochemical parameters of seed oil obtained confirmed that the oils were of good quality to those in the Association of Official Analytical Chemists standards.