Physicochemical Properties of Oil Derived from Cucumeropsis mannii (Egusi) and Citrullus lanatus (Watermelon) seeds

In this work, physicochemical characteristics of the oils extracted from Cucumeropsis manni (Egusi) and Citrullus lanatus (Watermelon) seeds were determined, and the output for both vegetable oils was compared. Unshelled seeds of both C. mannii and C. lanatus were purchased from modern market, in Lafia local government area of Nasarawa state, Nigeria. Following dehulling, oil was extracted from both seed samples using the cold extraction technique. The physicochemical properties such as density, viscosity, iodine value (IV), acid value (AV), peroxide value (PV), and saponification value (SV) of the seed oil samples were then examined. The result revealed that the density for both C. mannii and C. lanatus seed oil were 0.98 ± 0.16 and 0.98 ± 0.16 g/ml, and their viscosity are 72.5 ± 0.03 and 57.5 ± 0.11 Cp respectively. Both C. mannii and C. lanatus seed oil IV was 84.92 ± 0.24 and 80.91 ± 0.12 g/I2/100 g, AV was 2.92 ± 0.26 and 2.44 ± 0.04 mgKOH/g, and PV was 3.77 ± 0.01 and 4.28 ± 0.05 meq peroxide/g respectively. The SV for C. mannii is 243.85 ± 0.31 is higher than that of C. lanatus which is 187.12 ± 0.19 mgKOH/g. In conclusion, the iodine, acid, and peroxide values for both samples show that they are safe to consume. The C. mannii SV demonstrates that it is superior for soap manufacturing. Finally, the PV demonstrates that both samples are suitable for biodiesel production, which can help reduce the impact of climate change on our society as a whole.