Evaluation of the Tubers and Oil of Cyperus rotundus Linn (CYPERACEAE)

Authors

  • B.N. Emelugo Department of Applied Biochemistry, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, P.M.B 5025, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
  • S.C. Umerie Department of Applied Biochemistry, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, P.M.B 5025, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
  • I.F. Okonkwo Department of Agriculture and Bioresource Engineering, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, P.M.B 5025, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
  • J.N. Achufusi Department of Biology, Nwafor Orizu College of Education, Nsugbe, Anambra State, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2011.147.150

Keywords:

Characterization, cyperus rotundus tubers, oil extraction, proximate evaluation

Abstract

The proximate analysis of Cyperus rotundus tubers were evaluated and the composition was found to be: 9.0±0.80, 1.75±0.55, 9.50±0.86, 7.87±0.92, 17.48±1.04 and 63.60±1.52% for moisture, crude protein, oil, ash, crude fibre and carbohydrate respectively. The quality of the oil extracted by Soxhlet was assessed in terms of acid value, free fatty acid content, iodine value, saponification value and specific gravity. Results showed that the oil has a low iodine number thus placing it as a non-drying oil, stable and reduced degree of unsaturation. The saponification value and the heat of combustion, implicated the oil as non-edible but can be used for making alkyd resin, shampoo and soaps. The phytochemical constituents; terpenoids, tannins and flavonoids are also implicated in the allelopathic properties of the tubers.

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Published

15.01.2011

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 2 (2011)

Section

Research Article

License

Copyright (c) 2011 Asian Network for Scientific Information

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

How to Cite

Emelugo, B., Umerie, S., Okonkwo, I., & Achufusi, J. (2011). Evaluation of the Tubers and Oil of Cyperus rotundus Linn (CYPERACEAE). Pakistan Journal of Nutrition, 10(2), 147–150. https://doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2011.147.150