CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL ANALYSES OF OILS FROM 4 SPECIES OF CUCURBITACEAE

The seed oils of Cucumeropsis mannii, two varieties of Lagenaria sicceraria and Telfairia occidentalis were evaluated. The oil contents by mechanical expression were 33.2%, 33.4%, 34.2% and 32.8% from the roasted kernels of C. mannii, L. sicceraria var. 1, L. sicceraria var. 2 and T. occidentalis, respectively. Lower oil contents (26.4-28.6%) were obtained from unroasted kernels of the species. The difference in oil yield between the unroasted and roasted kernels was significant (p less-than-or-equal-to 0.05). Roasting of the kernels did not affect the quality factors of the oils, except for the color. The color of oil from roasted kernels was golden, whereas that from unroasted kernels was pale yellow. The predominant fatty acids were palmitic, stearic, oleic and linoleic. The oils from the varieties of L. sicceraria were more unsaturated (80.2-80.3%) than the oils from C. mannii (71.4%) and T. occidentalis (69.3%). The smoke (149.5-180.1-degrees-C) and flash (204.8-291.5-degrees-C) points varied considerably among the oils. Cucumeropsis mannii and T. occidentalis kernel oils failed a cold test, while the oils from L. sicceraria passed.