CHARACTERISTICS OF SEED KERNEL OIL FROM PODOCARPUS FALCATUS

The objective of this work was to evaluate the yield and physicochemical characteristics of fixed oil, namely, Podocarpus falcatus oil from different provenances. Mature fruits of P. falcatus collected from four sites (Assela, Kersa, Hirna and Shashemene) were extracted using Soxhlet apparatus with hexane. The average moisture content of P. falcatus seed kernel was 8.31% and the oil yield 52.96% (maximum 57.34% and minimum 50.89% from Hirna and Assela sites respectively) of dry kernel weight. Analysis of variance showed that there was no significant variation in oil yield between provenances. There were significant variations in saponification value and refractive indices between provenances of the oil. The specific density (0.89), saponification value (189.3 KOH mg g-1) and refractive index (1.47) of the oil extracted from kernels of P. falcatus were compared with common edible oil. The oil obtained from P. falcatus seed kernel could therefore be used in the production of edible oil.