Abstract

Tigernut is a high-quality nut that contains lipids, protein, starch, fiber, vitamins, minerals and bioactive factors. Despite the high qualities and advantages of tigernut oil, there are limited or no information on the moisture content and extraction methods needed for the optimum extraction of tiger nut oil. The aims of this work is to extract tiger nut oil using chemical and mechanical method, studying the effect of moisture content on the oil yield from each of the extraction methods and to carry out comparative analysis of the result statistically. The oil yield extracted chemically at moisture contents of 10, 13 and 16% were 38.32, 17.52 and 10.28% respectively while the oil yield extracted mechanically was 8.55, 6.20 and 3.4% respectively. It was observed that the chemical method has a better oil extraction yield than the mechanical method, and also, the yield reduces across the two extraction methods as the moisture content increases. The ANOVA reveals that extraction method and moisture content have a significant effect at P≤0.05 on the extracted oil yield of tiger nut. It is recommended that chemical extraction with hexane is highly effective for obtaining optimal tigernut oil yield at 10% moisture content.

Key words: Oil, extraction methods, yield, tigernut and moisture content.