Abstract

Burkina Faso, an essentially agricultural country, is also a producer of multipurpose vegetable oils. Their use for human nutrition is endangered by competing uses in different sectors of the consumers' goods industry, especially in the production of soaps and other body care products. To insure the proper, nutritional use of edible oils and to prevent their absorption in the output of nonfood commodities, this project will develop techniques for the utilization of nonedible vegetable oils obtained from plants such as neem, jujuba, and pourghere. Although they are well known by craftsmen for the industrial quality of their oil, the plants are not yet developed due to the easy availability of edible oils. The results of the project will enable the government to replace the edible vegetable oils in the nonfood industry with nonedible ones.

Post-Project Summary

The study concerned the extraction of nonedible vegetable oils from three plants indigenous to Burkina Faso, i.e. Balanites aegyptica, Jatropha curcas (pourghère) and Azadirachta indica (neem). The study of the Ziziphus mauritiana (jujube tree) could not be concluded because of certain technological problems encountered in the treatment of the seeds. An assessment of the level of oils contained in the seeds of the three selected plants was made, i.e. the percentage of fat content; and the gross and relative yield of the extraction by manually operated mechanical presses was measured. The physical and chemical characteristics of the oils were studied by means of several molecular indicators, including the saponification number. However, due to the limited technical resources of the IBE (Burkina Faso Energy Institute), it was impossible to improve the methods for eliminating certain toxic substances in the by- products. Two extraction techniques were tested, i.e. manual thrashing and mechanical dehusking with a manual and electric thrasher, designed and produced by IBE, and with several variations currently being used in the Burkina Faso countryside. Improvement tests increased the pressing by 50%, and the results have been extrapolated on presses with a greater capacity. The work was performed in consultation with users of the technology, such as rural women's groups, small soap producers, and industrial units. Support continued in a second phase.

Recipient Institution(s)