Chemical Constituents of Solvent Extracted Bitter Kola Nut Oil and its Benefcial Health Properties

Abstract

This study investigated chemical composition and biological activity of bitter kola oil. Solvent extraction was done using Soxhlet extraction method and the chemical composition of the oil was investigated using standard procedures. The oil yield of bitter kola nut oil was 2.480%. The color was deep brown. The chemical composition of the oil showed 58 different chemical compounds of which 40 are reported to have biological activity. 23.1% of the chemical composition of bitter kola oil obtained was made up of fatty acids. The fatty acid compositions of the oil showed saturated and unsaturated components that ranged from 0.59 – 10.10% and 0.72 – 4.13%, respectively. Some of the saturated components of bitter kola nut oil include Palmitic; Lauric; Myristic; Pentadecanoic and Stearic fatty acids while the unsaturated components were Oleic; Linoleic and Hydnocarpic fatty acids. In conclusion, this study showed that bitter kola oil comprises of many biologically active compounds which could be used could beuse in food formulation, pharmaceutical and chemical industries.