Abstracto

Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Shea nut Fat Extracts from Selected Areas of Kebbi State, Nigeria.

AA Warra, and AJ Ahmad

Hexane extracts of shea nut fat were subjected to physico-chemical analysis which revealed the following results; Saponification values mgKOH/g 141.65 0.40c, 166.1 0.80ab and 169.79 1.29a, Iodine values I2/100g 51.17 0.18c, 53.54 0.39a and 51.78 0.26b, Acid values mgKOH/g 15.52 1.62a , 14.26 0.33b and 7.52 0.33bc, Free fatty acids mg/g 5.04 0.05b, 4.20 0.04bc and 7.52 0.33a , Specific gravities 0.94 0.02a, 0.96 0.03a and 0.93 0.01a for Illo, Kwanga and Kwere samples respectivel. The statistical package used was the Analysis of Variance using ANOVA. The same subscript indicates that there is no significant difference while different subscript letters indicates that there is significant difference between the means. The physico-chemical characteristics of the various fat extracts justified their relevance for soap making and other cosmetic preparations.