Laje Anthony D. Pasadilla (April 2009)
Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus – Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PSHS WVC), Brgy. Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City 5000, Philippines
ABSTRACT
Although many different parts of plants may yield oil, in actual commercial practice oil is extracted primarily from the seeds of oilseed plants. Plant oils are obtained by crushing the seeds of oil crops. The sustainable production of oil by agricultural oil crops therefore offers major opportunities to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.
This study aimed to extracts the plant oil from the seeds of kasla (Jatropha curcas) and rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) and characterized and compare the oil obtained from each seeds afterwards. The oils were extracted using the Soxhelet apparatus. The oils were characterized using different methods for each property of the oil to be determined.
For the oil extracted from the seeds of kasla (Jatropha curcas) the mean acid value is 3.13 ± 0.16: the mean saponification value is 234.56 ± 19.24; and the mean specific gravity is 0.88 ± 0.05. While for the oil extracted from the seeds of rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) the mean acid value is 1.68 ± 0.65: the mean saponification value is 208.17±29.19; and the mean specific gravity is 0.95±0.05.
The t-test showed that there is no significant difference between the acid value of the rambutan and kasla oil while there is a significant difference between the saponification value and specific gravity of both oils.