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King Saud University, College of Science, Chemistry Department, Riyadh 1145, Saudi Arabia
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 29 June 2010
Received in revised form 17 August 2010
Accepted 20 August 2010
Keywords:
Albizia julibrissin
Seed oil
Physicochemical properties
Fatty acids
Triacylglycerols
DSC
a b s t r a c t
The physicochemical characteristics, fatty acid and triacylglycerol compositions, DSC prole and UV/vis
spectrum of oil extracted from Albizia julibrissin seeds were determined in this study. The oil content
and the moisture of the seeds were 10.50% and 1.56%. The free fatty acid, the peroxide value, the p-
anisidine value, the saponication value, the iodine value were 2.54%, 6.61mequiv. O
2
/kg of oil, 1.98,
190.63 (mg KOH/g) and 111.33 (g/100g of oil), respectively. The specic extinction coefcients K
232
, K
268
were 7.55 and 0.96, respectively. Linoleic acid (C
18:2
, 58.58%), palmitic acid (C
16
, 13.86%) and oleic acid
(C
18:1
, 10.47%) were the dominant fatty acids in the A. julibrissin seed oil. LLL (36.87%), OLL (21.62%), PLL
(16.69%) and PLO+SLL (8.59%) were the abundant triacylglycerol representing>83% of the seed oil (L:
linoleic, O: oleic, P: palmitic, S: stearic). The DSC melting curves reveal that: melting point =14.70
C and
melting enthalpy=54.34J/g. A. julibrissin seed oil showed some absorbance in the UV-B and UV-C ranges.
The results of the present analytical study show that A. julibrissin is a promising oilseed crop, which can
be used for making soap, hair shampoo and UV protectors. Furthermore, the high level of unsaturated
fatty acids makes it desirable in terms of nutrition.
2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The species Albizia julibrissin, commonly named mimosa,
powder-puff tree, silk tree, are widely distributed in Asia, Africa,
Australia, and tropical and subtropical America (Zheng et al.,
2004; Kim et al., 2007). It is native to Asia from Iran to Japan
(Cheatham et al., 1996). The genus Albizia (also Albizzia) belonging
to Fabaceae/Leguminosae family (Mimosoideae subfamily), consists
of approximately 150 species (Wang et al., 2006). Most species
are deciduous woody trees and shrubs. They are easily identied
by their bipinnately compound leaves. Its wood can be used for
building and furniture-making. The young leaves are edible (Zheng
et al., 2004). A. julibrissin is an umbrella-shaped tree growing to
6m tall (Lau et al., 2007), with a broad crown of level or arching
branches. It resprouts quickly if cut or top-killed, and the A. julib-
rissin bark is dark greenish grey in colour and striped vertically as it
gets older. The leaves are bipinnate, 2045cm long and 1225cm
broad, divided into 412pairs of pinnae, each with 1030 pairs of
leaets; the leaets are oblong, 612mm long and 14mm broad.
From June to July, a head inorescence of attractive pink owers is
produced at the top of the branch (Zheng et al., 2004). The sweetly
scentedowers areagoodnectar sourcefor honeybees. A. julibrissin
fruit consists of at pods withbulgingseeds, eachpod818cmlong,
1.52.5cm wide and can be seen from June to February. Typically
24
N; longitude 13
74
Cfor 24h.
The dried seeds were milled in Basic IKA Werke Mill (MF10) then
sieved using a 1mm mesh sieve and stored at 15
C until analy-
ses. Crude soybean oil was purchased from an oil renery located
in Tunis (ETS Abdelmoula).
2.2. Lipid extraction
Oil was extracted fromseeds using hexane. The ground dried A.
julibrissin seeds (40g) were placed into a cellulose paper cone and
extracted with 400ml hexane using a soxhlet extraction apparatus
for 8h. The solvent was removed via a rotary vacuumdistillation at
4050
C,
H=11.469J/g), tin (m.p. =231.928
C, H=60.22J/g), indium
(melting point, m.p. =156.598
C at a rate of 5
C/min.
2.3.9. Fatty acid composition
The fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) composition was deter-
mined by converting the oil to fatty acid methyl esters by adding
1ml of n-hexane to 40mg of oil followed by 200l of sodium
methoxide (2M). The mixture is heated in the bath at 50
C for few
seconds followed by adding 200l HCl (2N). The top layer (1l)
was injected into a GC (Agilent 6890N, California, USA) equipped
with a ame ionization detector (FID) and a polar capillary col-
umn(HP-Innowax polyethylene glycol, 0.25mminternal diameter,
30m length and 0.25m lm in thickness) to obtain individual
peaks of fatty acid methyl esters. The detector temperature was
275
C/min to 200
C/min to 250
C) 1.4710.002 1.4770.002
State at ambient temperature Liquid Liquid
Colour Yellow Dark yellow
Phosphorus, mg/kg 35.430.93 173.671.63
julibrissin seed oil were concluded by comparing the retention time
of standardTAGs peak andthe retentiontime of other oils (ax seed
oil, olive oil, corn oil and sunower oil) chromatographs obtained
under similar analytical conditions.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. The physicochemical properties of seed oil
Seeds of A. julibrissin contained 10.50% of oil (dry weight basis)
and 1.56% of moisture. This seed oil content is comparable with
those of other seed oils such as Phoenix canariensis (10.36%) (Nehdi
et al., in press), Spanish broom (10.50%) (Cerchiara et al., 2010),
raspberry (10.70%) (Oomah et al., 2000) and prickly pear (10.90%)
(Ennouri et al., 2005).
Table 1 reports the comparison of physicochemicals properties
of A. julibrissin seed oil with those of soybean oil. The free fatty acid
content of A. julibrissin seed oil (2.54%) is higher than of soybean
oil (0.86%) indicating that some hydrolytic reactions occur during
the extraction (Ku and Mun, 2008). The oxidative state of oils is
determined using the peroxide value, anisidine value and specic
extinctions K
232
and K
268
. The peroxide value of A. julibrissin seed
oil (6.61mequiv. O
2
/kg of oil) is higher than that of soybean oil
(1.52mequiv. O
2
/kg of oil) indicating the presence of some quantity
of hydroperoxide in A. julibrissin seed oil. This oil can be stored for
a long time without deterioration, since oils become rancid when
the peroxide value ranges from 20 to 40mequiv. O
2
/kg of oil. The
phosphorus content of A. julibrissin seed oil is 35.43ppm, lower
than that of soybean oil (173.67ppm), showing that the quantity
of phospholipids in A. julibrissin seed oil is low. The specic extinc-
tion coefcient at 232nm(K
232
) is related to the degree of primary
oxidation of the oil and thus directly correlated to the amount of
hydroperoxide (Maskan and Bagci, 2003; Ku and Mun, 2008). K
232
is also an indicator of polyunsaturated FA conjugation, whereas
K
268
and K
270
are related to the secondary oxidation products (-
unsaturated ketone, -diketone) (Karleskind, 1992). The relatively
highvalue of K
232
(7.55) of A. julibrissinseedoil conrms that this oil
is muchoxidizedthansoybeanoil. The lowvalue of K
268
(0.96) indi-
cates that A. julibrissin seed oil contains a lowquantity of secondary
oxidation products. The low anisidine values show that the both
oils contain a weak amount of -unsaturated aldehyde compounds
(Karleskind, 1992).
The saponicationvalue of A. julibrissinseedoil (190.63) is lower
than that of soybean (179.45) but similar to that of other oils such
as linseed oil (190.86), sunower oil (188.98) and olive oil (191.93)
(Cerchiara et al., 2010). As reported by Akbar et al. (2009), high
saponication value indicates that oils are normal triglycerides and
very useful in production of liquid soap and shampoo industries.
Therefore, the value obtained for A. julibrissin seed oil in this study
Table 2
Comparison of fatty acid compositions (%) of A. julibrissin seed oil with those of
soybean oil.
Fatty acid A. julibrissin Soybean
Saturated
C
8:0
0.110.03 nd
C
10:0
0.140.04 nd
C
12:0
0.100.02 0.110.03
C
14:0
0.090.01 0.120.03
C
15:0
0.130.01 nd
C
16:0
13.860.19 15.650.03
C
17:0
nd 0.140.03
C
18:0
4.260.07 4.980.23
C
20:0
2.180.04 0.550.07
C
22:0
0.530.03 0.340.04
C24:0
2.620.02 nd
C
25:0
0.210.01 nd
C
26:0
1.260.02 nd
Monoinsaturated
C
14:1
nd 0.090.01
C
15:1
0.110.02 nd
C
16:1
0.440.02 0.120.03
C
17:1
0.120.04 0.090.02
C
18:1
10.470.42 20.980.23
C
20:1
0.300.06 0.320.06
C
22:1
nd 0.380.08
C
24:1
nd 0.130.03
Polyinsaturated
C
18:2
58.580.71 50.170.83
C
18:3
3.350.09 8.180.53
C
20:2
0.290.05 0.390.09
C
20:4
1.570.06 0.120.04
SAFA 25.13 21.89
MUFA 11.34 22.11
PUFA 63.79 58.86
U/S 2.96 3.69
SAFA: saturated fatty acids; MUFA: monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA: polyunsat-
urated fatty acid.
shows that it has high potency for use in the production of liquid
soap and shampoos.
The relatively low iodine value (111.33) in A. julibrissin seed oil
compared to soybean oil (122.56) is indicative of the presence of
a lower unsaturated bonds number. A. julibrissin seed oil can be
grouped as a semi-drying oils. Among physical properties, refrac-
tive index of oils is studied: A. julibrissin seed oil shows the lowest
value of refractive index (1.471), indicating that its degree of unsat-
uration is lower than that of soybean oil (Fatouh et al., 2005). The
fatty acid composition (Table 1) conrms this result.
Table 3
Comparison of triacylglycerol compositions (%) of A. julibrissin seed oil with those
of soybean oil.
Triacylglycerol ECN A. julibrissin Soybean
LnLnLn 36 1.35 0.50
LLnLn 38 1.35 1.33
LLLn 40 2.48 6.84
OLnLn 40 0.54 0.25
LLL 42 36.87 20.67
LLnP 42 0.63 3.58
OLL 44 21.62 15.88
PLL 44 16.69 15.27
OOLn+POLn 44 0.45 1.97
OOL 46 3.25 10.20
PLO+SLL 46 8.59 11.12
PPL 46 1.31 1.84
OOO+SLO 48 0.45 2.37
POO+PLS 48 2.48 5.21
POP 48 1.58 1.51
SOO 50 0.11 0.74
POS 50 0.45 0.63
La: lauric; M: myristic; P: palmitic; S: stearic; O: oleic; L: linoleic; G: gondoic; ECN:
equivalent carbon number.
I. Nehdi / Industrial Crops and Products 33 (2011) 3034 33
Fig. 1. DSC proles of Albizia julibrissim seed oil and soybean oil.
3.2. Fatty acid and triacylglycerols (TAGs) composition
The fatty acid composition is presented in Table 2. Linoleic, oleic
and palmitic acids are the most abundant unsaturated and satu-
rated fatty acids of A. julibrissin seed and soybean oil. Linoleic acid
(C
18:2
, 58.58%), palmitic acid (C
16
, 13.86%) and oleic acid (C
18:1
,
10.47%) together compose about 84% of the total fatty acids of
A. julibrissin seed oil. Linolenic acid content of soybean (8.18%) is
higher than that of A. julibrissin seed oil (3.35%).
A. julibrissin seed oil was characterised by a polyunsatu-
rated/saturated (P/S) ratio of 2.96, inferior to that of soybean oil
(3.69). The values of these ratios are in correlation with those of
refractive index. A high ratio of P/S is regarded favourable for the
reduction of serumcholesterol and atherosclerosis and prevention
of heart diseases (Oomah et al., 2002).
The total unsaturated fatty acid of A. julibrissin seed oil is 75.11%.
The unsaturated fatty acids can inuence the physical proper-
ties of the membrane such as uidity and permeability (Nasri et
al., 2005). Oleic acid is very important in nervous cell construc-
tion. It has fundamental role in cardiovascular diseases prevention
(Nasri et al., 2005). A. julibrissin seed oil and soybean oil are rich in
polyunsaturated fatty acid (58.86% and 63.79%). Linoleic fatty acid
is indispensable for the healthy growth of human skin (Bruckert,
2001). The fatty acid composition of A. julibrissin seed oil makes
it desirable in terms of nutrition and it may be used as edible oil.
However, the safety of this oil must be tested before use for human
nutrition.
The distribution of triacylglycerols (TAGs), with equivalent
carbon number (ECN) is given in Table 3. LLL, OLL and PLL triacyl-
glycerols are the most triacylglycerols of A. julibrissin seed oil and
soybean oil. It reects a close relationship between the fatty acids
and triacylglycerol content of the oils. TAGs with ECN44, TAGs ECN
42 and TAGs ECN 46 were dominant for the both oils.
3.3. Thermal prole
DSCprovides informationonthe excess specic heat over a wide
range of temperatures (Gloria and Aguilera, 1998). Any endother-
mic or exothermic event is registered as a peak in the chart, and its
area is proportional to the enthalpy gained or lost, respectively. A.
julibrissinseedoil andsoybeanoil showedthe same melting prole.
The thermograms of the oils seem to correspond to one triglyc-
eride (Fig. 1). A. julibrissin seed oil exhibited a single peak having
the following characteristics: melting temperature (14.70
C) and
melting enthalpy (54.34J/g) while the characteristics of the peak
of soybean oil are: melting temperature (17.82
C) and melting
enthalpy (63.44J/g). The difference between the melting tempera-
ture is due to the fact that soybean oil is more unsaturated than A.
julibrissin seed oil.
3.4. UV/vis spectra
The strong absorbance (2.613.19) in the 418470nm range
(Fig. 2) indicates the presence of an important amount of
Fig. 2. Ultra violet/vis spectra of Albizia julibrissin seed oil and soybean oil
(gure derived from scans (=200290nm) of oil diluted 1:1000; from scans
(=290400nm) of oil diluted 1:100 and fromscans (=400800nm) of oil diluted
1:10, all in hexane.
34 I. Nehdi / Industrial Crops and Products 33 (2011) 3034
carotenoids which is responsible for the dark yellow colour of
the soybean oil. A. julibrissin seed oil shows a weak absorbance
(0.450.57) in this range which is in agreement with its yel-
low colour. A. julibrissin seed oil shows strong absorbance in the
UV-B (290320nm) and UV-A (320400nm) range. In the UV-C
(100290nm) soybean oil shows more absorbance than A. julib-
rissin seed oil. Thus, A. julibrissin seed oil can shield against UV-B
and UV-A radiations responsible for most cellular damage, and it
may be used in formulation of UV protectors.
4. Conclusion
This preliminary study shows that the A. julibrissin is a promis-
ing seedoil crop. The characterizationof A. julibrissin seedoil shows
that it could be successfully used for making soap, hair sham-
poo and in formulation of UV protectors in cosmetic. Furthermore,
the high level of polyunsaturated fatty acids makes it desirable in
terms of nutrition, and might be an acceptable substitute for highly
polyunsaturated oils such soybean oil in diets.
This newA. julibrissin crop can potentially create newrural jobs
when used for industrial products.
Acknowledgments
The author thanks Prof. Hedi Zarrouk, the previous Director
of National Institute of Research and Physico-Chemical analysis
(INRAP), Sidi Thabet, Tunisia for his invaluable collaboration in the
development of this work. The author gratefully acknowledges Ms.
Samia Omri for practical assistance. I wish to thank my colleague
Prof. Mutassim Ibrahim Khalil for his assistance in the English of
this manuscript.
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