CHARACTERIZATION AND COMPOSITION OF BALANITE AEGYPTIACA SEED OIL AND ITS POTENTIAL AS BIODIESEL FEEDSTOCK IN NIGERIA

The seeds of Balanite aegyptiaca are good source of oil, which can be used as a diesel substitute. In this paper, Balanite aegyptiaca oil was extracted from the seeds using hexane (40-60oC).The oil yield was 34.52%, while the yield of the biodiesel after 12-24 hours reaction was 90%. Determined by Gas Chromatography (GC), three fatty acids in the extracted oil were mainly identified as; Palmitic acid, Linoliec acid and Stearic acid with 14.73%, 75.86% and 9.40% respectively. The oil exhibited good physical and chemical properties which can be used in biodiesel production as the fuel properties were within ASTM 6751 standard specifications.