CHARACTERIZATION AND FATTY ACID AMINATION OF TIGER NUT TUBER OIL

Oil was extracted from tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus) tubers at a percentage oil yield of 4.72% using Soxhlet extraction method. The extracted oil was characterized using Gas Chromatography Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) and a fatty acid percentage composition of 35.69%, 20.78%, 18.03%, 14.25%, 9.35%, and 1.90% of Oleic acid, Linolenic acid, Lauric acid, Myristic acid, Linoleic acid and Eicosapentaenoic acid respectively was obtained, giving a total percentage fatty acid composition of 100%. A Fourier Transform Infrared Radiation (FTIR) spectroscopy was carried out on the tiger nut tuber oil which measured the oil’s absorbance of infrared light at various wavelengths that led to the determination of the oil’s molecular composition and structure. Furthermore, the triglycerides in the tiger nut tuber oil were aminated with diethylamine for synthesis of fatty acid amides. An FTIR characterization of the resulted fatty amides revealed the presence of many functional groups. The fatty acid profile of the tiger nut tuber oil and the derivatives of their fatty acids (fatty acid amides) were indicators that tiger nut tuber oil has huge exploitable potentials for utilization in food, nutrition, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, therapeutics, medicines, and plastics. Thus, inclusion of tiger nut tuber as a source of vegetable oil will reduce over-dependence on conventional oil seeds and scale up its economic value as well as strengthen the Nigeria’s economy.