Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Date Seed Oil Grown in Sudan

Problem statement: Studies were conducted on the physical-chemical properties of Sudanese date seed oil extracted from two date palm cultivars (Phoenix dactylifera L.) ALBarakawi and Alqundeila. The extracted oil from ALBarakawi seeds weighed 6.833% w/w oil, Alqundeila oil extracted weighed 5.064% w/w. Approach: The physical properties of ALBarakawi oil were: viscosity: 17cp, refractive Index: 1.444, density: 0.9116 g cm^-3 color: Within the range 1. 6-11.1 (red-yellow). For Alqundeila the physical properties were: viscosity: 20cp, refractive index: 1.458, density: 0.9174 g cm^-3 color: 1.8-12.1 (red yellow). Results: The chemical properties were: Acid value 2.55, saponfication value 0.255 mg g^-1, iodine value 71.12 gm I₂/100 gm fat, peroxide value: 4.8 mg. Peroxide/Kgoil for ALBarakawi. For Alqundeila they were: acid value 2.47, saponfication value 0.267 mg g^-1 and iodine value 83.31gm I₂/100 gm fat, peroxide value: 7.4 mg Peroxide/Kgoil. In this study, High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was utilized for the identification and quantification of vitamin E in these samples. The content of vitamin E for ALBarakawi was 5.821 and 6.054 ppm for Alqundeila. For the fatty acid content in these oils, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) was used. The constituents of fatty acids (calculated % relative to total fatty acid constituents) in ALBarakawi were: Saturated lauric acid 37.10%, palmitic acid: 9.24%, Stearic acid 1.71%, Unsaturated fatty acids: Linoleic acid (Omega-6) 4.33%, Oleic acid (Omega-9) 32.66%. For Alqundeila, the found fatty acids were: Saturated lauric acid o.11%, Palmitic acid: o.42%, Stearic acid 46.93%. Conclusion/Recommendations: The elements types and contents in these oils were: Iron 0.27 ppm, Magnesium 0.204 ppm, Sodium 60 ppm, Potassium 470 ppm, Calcium 25 ppm, Selenium 34.4 ppb for ALBarakawi. The contents of these elements in Alqundeila were: iron 0.27 ppm Magnesium 0.07 ppm, Potassium 2.3 ppm, Selenium 12.6 ppb. The methods involved in this study covered, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) and Refractometry. Physico-chemical properties of date seed oil reported in this study were found similar to most of the early published results in this field.