TABLE OF CONTENT
CONTENTS PAGE
Title Page – – – – – – – – i
Certification – – – – – – – ii
Dedication – – – – – – – – iii
Acknowledgements – – – – – – iv
Abstract – – – – – – – v
Table of Contents – – – – – – – vi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION – – – 1
1.1 Background of the study – – – – – 1
1.2 Aim and Objectives of the Study – – – – 3
1.2.1 Aim – – – – – – – – 3
1.2.2 Objectives – – – – – – – 3
1.3 Scope and Limitation – – – – – – 3
1.4 Definition of Terms – – – – – 4
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW – – 6
2.1 The African Pear plant (Dacryodes edulis) – – 6
2.1.1 Botanical Classification of Dacryodes edulis – – 8
2.1.2 Morphology of the plant – – – – – 8
2.2 Products from the pear plants and their uses – – 10
2.2.1 Fruits/Pulp – – – – – – – 10
2.2.2 Seeds – – – – – – – – 12
2.3 Composition of Dacryodes edulis oil – – – 14
2.4 Nutritional value of the fruit – – – – 15
2.5 Medicinal value of Dacryodes edulis – – – 17
2.6 Parameters involved with the characterization of oil 19
2.6.1 Iodine – – – – – – – 19
2.6.2 Peroxide value – – – – – – 20
2.6.3 Acid value – – – – – – – 21
2.6.4 Saponification value – – – – – 22
2.6.5 Refractive Index – – – – – – 23
2.6.6 Specific gravity – – – – – – 25
2.6.7 Boiling Point of Oil – – – – – 26
2.6.8 Free Fatty Acid (FFA) – – – – – 27
2.6.9 Lipid content – – – – – – 28
CHAPTER THREE: MATERIALS AND METHODS – 29
3.1 Materials – – – – – – – 29
3.1.1 Chemicals used – – – – – – 29
3.1.2 Equipments used – – – – – – 30
3.2 Methods – – – – – – – 31
3.2.1 Sample Collection – – – – – – 31
3.2.2 Preparation of sample before analysis – – – 32
3.2.3 Preparation of sample for analysis – – – 32
3.3 Determination of the Parameters – – – 33
3.3.1 Determination of iodine value – – – – 33
3.3.2 Determination of Peroxide value – – – 34
3.3.3 Determination of Acid Value – – – – 35
3.3.4 Determination of Saponification value – – – 35
3.3.5 Determination of Specific gravity (Density) – – 36
3.3.6 Determination of Refractive index – – – 37
3.3.7 Determination of Boiling point – – – – 37
3.3.8 Determination of the Lipid content – – – 38
3.3.9 Determination of Free Fatty Acid – – – 38
3.4 Statistical Analysis – – – – – 39
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION – 41
4.1 Results – – – – – – – – 41
4.2 Discussion – – – – – – – 42
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS – – – – – 42
5.1 Conclusion – – – – – – – 46
5.2 Recommendations – – – – – – 47
5.3 Suggestion for further studies – – – – 47
References
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Dacryodes edulis is cultivated in large quantity in South – eastern Nigeria and other African countries like Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Malaysia, Liberia and Zaria. African pear (Dacryodes edulis)belongs to the family Burseracea and is also known asSatou (french), Ube (Igbo), Elemi (Yoruba), Eben (Efik) and Orumu (Benin) (Kengue et al., 2002). In South – East Nigeria, the trees are grown around homesteads and flowering takes place from January to April. The major fruiting season is between May and October (Emebin and Nwuto, 1990; Kengue and Nyagatchou, 2000). In both rural and Urban areas of Nigeria, the fruits are boiled or roasted and then eaten with cassava or maize (Tchata, 1996).