African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (7), pp. 950-952, 2 April 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Short Communication

Characterization of avocado pear (Persea americana) and African pear (Dacryodes edulis) extracts

Ikhuoria, E. U.  and Maliki, .M.

University of Benin, Department of Chemistry. Benin City, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: esyikhuoria@yahoo.com.

Accepted 8 February, 2007

The oil from edible avocado pear (Persea americana) and African pear (Dacryodes edulis) were extracted with chloroform. The oil were characterized for melting point, refractive index, relative viscosity, free fatty acids, saponification value, iodine value, acid value and percentage unsaponifable matter. The percent oil content in the fruit pulp was determined. The oil content of avocado pear was 9.1% while that of African pear was 23.2%.The physico-chemical characteristics and fatty acid composition of these oils, suggest some industrial potentials.

Key words: Avocado pear, African pear, Oil, Fatty acid, Characteristics.