EVALUATION OF FATTY ACID, AMINO ACID AND PHYTOCHEMICAL COMPOSITES OF RAW AND BOILED MILK BUSH SEED (THEVETIA PERUVIANA)

This study assessed the raw and boiled seeds of Thevetia peruviana for amino acid contents, fattyacids composition and phytochemical properties. The parameters of interest were determined usingstandard methods. The study revealed the main saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in raw andboiled Thevetia peruviana seed. The unsaturated fatty acids are palmitoleic acid (C16:1), oleicacid (C18:1), linoleic acid (C18:2), linolenic acid (C18:3) and erucic acid (C22:1). Oleic acid isthe most abundant unsaturated fatty acid followed by linoleic acid with values as follows, (54.75% and 21.48 %) while for boiled (52.45 % and 18.95 %) respectively in each case. Myristic acid,Palmitic acid, Stearic acid and Behenic acid are the saturated fatty acid. Also, the value of oleicacid (C18:1) reduced (52.45 %) due to the effect of boiling, while the saturated fatty acid ofpalmitic acid (C16:0) increased (19.06 %) due to the effect of boiling. The study further revealedthat all the essential amino acids required in human and animal diet were present in both raw andboiled seed of Thevetia peruviana. Glutamate acid has the most abundant in both raw (18.45 %)and boiled (19.99 %) sample respectively while the lowest of all in raw is Cysteine (1.18 %) andin the boiled Histidine (1.25 %) which is as a result of boiling. The Phytochemical screening onthe oil revealed the presence of flavonoids, saponins, steroids, cardiac glycosides, terpenoids, andalkaloids. However, boiling has little reduction on the characteristics of boiled Thevetia peruvianaseed.Keywords: Fatty acid composition, phytochemical properties, milk bush seed and amino acids