Physicochemical characterization of crude and refined oil of Proboscidea parviflora seeds (Uña de gato)

Abstract

Searching for seeds as new sources of oleaginous that can cover the national needs, it was studied the oil of Proboscidea parviflora. This oil was extracted from the seed with hexane in a Soxhlet apparatus, and its physical and chemical properties were determined, as well as the fatty acid composition by gas chromatography, in crude and refined oil. After a simple refining and deodorization process, the extracted oil had good quality with a high percentage of insatured fatty acids.